NOVEMBER 2007 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 423 The Challenge of Cuban Tourism A Commentary on “Cuba at the Crossroads”

hotel operators remain dim, despite inevitable changes in the island’s government. Expatriate Cubans remain adamantly opposed to the current regime, thus provid-ing a political headwind. Beyond that, a question arises of why Cuba’s tourist interests would want to invite more leakage of tourism revenues beyond the European and other interests now on the island. Although eco-tourism presents an attractive mechanism for expanding Cuba’s tourist arrivals, the island’s industry is currently focused on sun and sand tourism. Finally, the likely clash of operating styles might well doom any effort toward a U.S.–Cuban joint venture