What was once a haven for Canadian tourists may soon be invaded by our neighbours to the south.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba, ending decades of isolationist policies directed at the communist island nation.
But what will this mean for Canadian travellers?
President and CEO of Cuba Cruise, Dugald Wells, told CTV News Channel that the arrival of American tourists on Cuban shores could lead to overcrowding and a spike in prices for the one million Canadians who travel to the country every year.
"Absolutely, the prices are going to go up," he said. "Cuba is the low-cost destination in the Caribbean as everyone knows."
"There are enough resorts and hotels to accommodate our one million Canadians, but it is a big country and it is really lacking in infrastructure.
While the initial plans laid out by the White House say the travel restrictions for U.S. citizens will be eased, American tourists have not been given a carte blanche to travel to Cuba. Licenses will only be granted for family visits, athletic competitions, humanitarian projects, professional research and meetings and eight other categories. A full list can be seen here.
Because of these initial restrictions, Canada AM travel expert Loren Christie believes that Canadians won’t have to worry about price increases this year, but in several years.
"They love the Canadian dollar, so they're not going to start jacking up rates until there's enough demand to require them to do that, and, with the restrictions put on Americans right now, that demand is not there."
But Christie expects that Canadians won't have long before American tourists start flocking to Cuba.
"The American market is looking for something new, something unusual, something close and (Cuba) is going to hit all the marks for them," he said.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian travellers poured in approximately $748 million into the Cuban tourism industry in 2012. With a possible influx of American dollars on the horizon, some Canadians including Christie, are planning to take in the sites sooner rather than later before they lose their authentic Cuban flavour.
"Hopefully if they have the right people in there developing and they try to preserve the old buildings and preserve some of the culture, at least it will maintain a flavour and a nod to Cuban culture," he said.
"Hopefully they're not going to let people go in there and bulldoze things down and start from scratch."
