On September 29, 2017, The U.S. State Department issued a Cuba Travel Warning as a result of some unidentified attacks against numerous U.S. Embassy employees. The alleged incidents appear to be isolated to specific residences and rooms occupied by individual employees of the U.S. Embassy. Both governments are working to uncover the mystery of these incidents and the U.S. Embassy in Havana remains open to serve U.S. Citizens. Cuba Travel Services (CTS) does not have any reason to believe these alleged incidents pose any danger whatsoever to those traveling to Cuba. In a briefing just last month, the State Department spokeswomen said the incidents were not ongoing.
None of the 600,000 U.S. citizens/residents that visited Cuba last year nor the nearly 500,000 who visited this year have been effected by the alleged incident. “Cuba remains one of the safest destinations in the world for American travelers,” said Michael Zuccato General Manager of Cuba Travel Services. “Safearound.com independently assesses the risk of travel for over 100 cities around the world and has determined ‘Cuba is generally a safe country with almost no violent crimes, organized gang culture, teenage delinquency, drugs or dangerous zones.’”
Many of us in the aviation and travel industry carefully assess and track State Department Travel warnings because customers’ safety is our first priority. The Cuba Travel Warning includes the entire country and is in direct contrast to other travel warnings and alerts, which normally address a specific region or city section. Some have dismissed the warning claiming they are motivated by Miami politics which have long influenced U.S. – Cuba relations. American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines and JetBlue are all planning to operate as normal. In addition to the long list of air carriers, cruise lines and tour operators continue to arrange travel to Cuba without interruption.
“Cuba Travel Services regularly conducts thorough and comprehensive inspections of its select hotels and excursions in efforts to ensure a safe, secure and rewarding experience for our travelers,” said Michael Zuccato. “Just last week an additional inspection was completed in Havana (post Hurricane Irma) and the services were certified safe for travelers.”
