WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It’s too soon for Americans to plan a Cuban vacation of beach, mambo and mojitos, but the US travel industry is gearing up for a return to its largest Caribbean destination before Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

Tour operators held a video conference with Cuban tourism officials in Havana on Wednesday and asked them if they are ready for the “rush” of Americans if the US travel ban is lifted as proposed by legislation now under consideration in the US Congress.

“Americans really want to see Cuba,” said Robert Whitley, president of the US Tour Operators Association, which together with the National Tour Association also present at the event, handles 75 per cent of all package tour business to the Caribbean.

“We predict that at least 850,000 Americans will go to Cuba in the first year,” Whitley said.
That does not include an estimated 480,000 Americans who will go to Cuba on Caribbean cruises when US ships are allowed to dock there, and another 480,000 Cuban American visiting family in Cuba each year, a Cuban official said.

Cuba plans to build 30 hotels over the next six years with the help of foreign investors, adding 10,000 rooms to the 48,600 that exist now, as well as golf courses, said Miguel Figueras, the top adviser to the Cuban tourism minister.

Cuba was a favourite playground for Americans in the 1950s, when the Mafia ran casinos and brothels in Havana that were closed by Castro. As Cuba veered towards communism, Washington broke off diplomatic ties, imposed trade and travel bans and Cuba’s tourist trade all but disappeared for three decades.

Some 2.5 million tourists visited Cuba this year, mostly from Canada and Europe, said Figueras, who indicated that US companies are losing out to the tune of $1 billion a year.

According to Cuban estimates based on 2 million Americans visiting Cuba a year, US airlines stand to earn $600 million and travel agencies $300 million annually, Figueras said.