South Florida sees upswing in family trips to Cuba

Posted on Wednesday, 09.09.09
South Florida sees upswing in family trips to Cuba
South Florida has seen a surge in trips to Cuba as new U.S. policies
toward Havana take shape.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY AND RUI FERREIRA
achardy@MiamiHerald.com

Nildo Herrera drew the stares of fellow passengers and airline ticket
agents as he checked into his recent Havana flight at Miami
International Airport wearing five hats, one atop another.

``One is for my grandson, another for my son and the rest for other
relatives,'' the smiling 75-year-old Hialeah resident explained to a
bemused Vivian Mannerud, a local Cuba travel industry executive handling
his boarding.

Herrera was one of the thousands of travelers who swarm MIA's Concourse
F pushing carts precariously loaded with mountains of suitcases and
duffel bags, all tightly wrapped in blue plastic, as they inch their way
to ticket counters to pick up boarding passes for Cuba flights.

The scenes are reminiscent of the days when MIA filled up with tens of
thousands of exiles on early family-reunification flights in the late
1970s and early '80s. Family travel gradually dwindled as U.S.-Cuba
relations cooled.

Now, five months after Congress loosened strict Bush-era rules for
family visits to Cuba, the numbers of travelers to the island is up
dramatically, South Florida travel executives say.

Between April and June, about 55,000 people traveled to Cuba, compared
to 30,000 in the three previous months, before the restrictions were
lifted. The number of travelers is expected to hit 200,000 by year's
end, about double the yearly figures during the Bush restrictions. And
travel executives expect the numbers to spike even higher now that new
rules announced by the Obama administration -- which lift all
restrictions on family visits to Cuba -- have taken effect.

The new rules mean that those with family in Cuba can visit as often and
for as long as they like. Previous rules restricted visits to as few as
once every three years.

``No question, there is a noticeable increase in travel to Cuba,'' said
Armando García, president of Marazul Charters, one of the oldest Cuba
charter airline companies.

The upswing has prompted one veteran Cuba travel executive to come out
of retirement, and persuaded charter companies to add flights -- for a
total of about 30 to 35 per week, compared to about 15 to 18 last year.

Cities currently authorized to handle Cuba charter flights are New York,
Los Angeles and Miami -- with the bulk of flights leaving from MIA.
Several other cities, including Key West and New Orleans, are seeking
authority for Cuba-bound travel.

Mannerud, president of Airline Brokers in Coral Gables, symbolizes the
renewed interest in Cuba travel.

She is the daughter of Fernando Fuentes Coba, South Florida pioneer of
the Cuba travel business, who started island charter flights in 1978.

Mannerud partially retired in 2000 to fight breast cancer. With her
disease now in remission, she decided to return to the business after
the Obama administration announced the lifting of travel restrictions,
and reopened her charter business in May.

MIA ticket counters that handle Cuba trips are once again full of
baggage-laden travelers waiting to board planes bound for Havana and
other Cuban cities.

For many it's a familiar routine, but for others the trip feels like an
adventure because it's their first time in Cuba.

``I can't wait,'' said Manuel Bustillo, a Colombia-born air-conditioning
repair technician in Miami, traveling for the first time with his
Cuban-American wife Maribel Pérez and her 12-year-old daughter Nisvelys.
Pérez has traveled to Cuba four times in the past but had not returned
for a few years because of restrictions.

Bustillo, 47, said the loosening of travel rules inspired him and his
wife to book their flight and spend the more than $5,000 a typical Cuba
family trip requires.

The bulk of the money, he said, went on clothes, medical supplies and
food for her family in Quivicán, south of Havana.

When the family arrived in Cuba they were picked up at José Martí
International Airport by Pérez's family -- all crammed into a green 1952
Pontiac, which belonged to her late father José.

Pérez and her mother, Teresita, hugged each other and cried before the
Cuba family and their Miami guests drove in the old car to Quivicán,
about 25 miles from Havana.

``It was a very emotional trip, and we got to see Cuba up close and
personal,'' Bustillo said. ``It was quite an experience.''

El Nuevo Herald staff writer Wilfredo Cancio Isla of El Nuevo Herald
contributed to this report. A Miami Herald staff writer also reported
from Havana. The name of the reporter was withheld because the
journalist lacked the visa required by the Cuban government to report
from the island. The government routinely denies Herald requests for
such visas.

South Florida sees upswing in family trips to Cuba - Today's Top Stories
- MiamiHerald.com (9 September 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/top-stories/story/1224032.html