However, after the presidential election in November, and just in time for tourist season in the Caribbean, people expect a thaw. Nothing is likely to change while President Bush remains in office. But the doors to this once-closed island nation are already open to some Americans, and Castro’s retirement is likely to open them even wider. It could take time - months, or even years - before Cuba becomes the hot destination it used to be for American visitors, according to experts.
“It’s still early for the American tourist to plan on sipping a mojito at the Hotel Nacional,” says David Guggenheim, who directs the Cuba program at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, Texas.