Key West Properties Prepare for the Opening of Cuba

The Keynoter reported that last Tuesday, the board of the Tourist Development Council met to discuss marketing the Florida Keys as a tourist destination when Cuba opens up to American tourists.

The TDC is preparing a “Two Nation Vacation – Keys Plus Cuba” advertising campaign. The 10-page plan details targeting visitors to the Keys that are also “curious about Cuba” and encouraging those travelers to stay in the Keys hotels and take day trips to Cuba, fifty-five miles south.

The TDC began preparing a marketing plan for Cuba in 2002 because of the belief that Cuba “is not prepared to handle a large influx of American tourists”. One million foreigners visited Cuba in 1996 and 2.3 million foreigners visited in 2008.

It is estimated by the International Monetary Fund that, if opened today, Cuba would have more than 3 million visitors in the first year and would not enough hotel rooms to accommodate tourists. The demographics of the future Cuban visitor is being gauged as wealthy North Americans from the Eastern seaboard and Canada. The projected campaign will work with the tourist agencies of Cuba to target both North Americans and Europeans.

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