April sun in Cuba? Why it's in the too-hard basket for many Kiwis

A 60-year-old blockade in the Caribbean is continuing to complicate Kiwi travel plans.

Fair Go reported on the surprise sanctions banks have against Cuba, which resulted in a Wellington woman’s payment to her overseas travel agent being frozen.

Most banks in New Zealand won’t allow transactions with Cuba, due to the ongoing trade embargo the United States has against Cuba.

Banks say that, because they operate in a global commerce environment, they must comply with those restrictions or face consequences.

Fair Go wanted to know how much those restrictions could also be affecting Kiwis’ ability to travel there.

Stats NZ provided the programme with data on the number of New Zealand-residents who put Cuba as their main destination while travelling.

In 2013, it was as low as 280 people.

But in the space of a couple of years, Cuba drew a surge of Kiwi visitors, peaking at 1280 in 2016.

This coincided with an agreement by US President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro to mend the relationship between the two countries, which included lifting some travel restrictions and opening up access to banking.

However, after President Donald Trump took office, some of those measures were reversed, leading to the banning of all American commercial flights and cruises to Cuba other than Havana.

By 2018, Kiwi travel numbers had dropped back down to 510 and have struggled to recover since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Former Cuban Ambassador Edgardo Valdés López told Fair Go if it weren’t for the sanctions, he was sure New Zealanders would be enjoying the Carribean republic's charms.

“I am sure that more Kiwis will be travelling to Cuba because every time, they say ‘Cuba is on my list of things to-do and I would love to go there but it's always difficult’."

Kiwis tended to travel to Cuba via Mexico or Canada as these were the most straightforward options.

MFAT advised that while it was possible to fly directly to Cuba from the US, travelling for tourism purposes wasn’t allowed under US law.

A visit to Cuba might also impact on someone’s ability to enter the US again under the ESTA visa waiver programme, meaning they would need to apply for a B-2 tourist visit instead.

Roger Young, who co-owned Wellington’s Havana Bar, said the US sanctions were part of the reason he stopped importing speciality rum.

Roger says because he couldn’t pay for Cuban products through a bank in New Zealand, he was forced to divert funds into a British bank account, “and then send it back into Cuba through either Britain or Canada".

"It was a nightmare, and the fees were, you know, quite substantial”.

Roger told Fair Go that Kiwis should be able to freely deal with countries such as Cuba.

“It's a shame because Cuba's one of the most amazing countries you'll ever go to.