How Cuba will Look in 2025

Two years ago, no one would have dared to imagine that a Cuban embassy could exist so soon in Washington DC and for an American Embassy to exist in Havana. The speed of change in the last year has been quite astounding and clearly seems to be related to Barack Obama’s desire to make his mark in history. So what will Cuba look like in 2025 if things are happening so quickly right now? What might Cuba look like in ten years’ time?

Americanisation

Over the last sixty years, even under the Communism, the influence of America has continued to be an underlying theme and influence always there, and ready to bubble to the surface. In two to three years’ time I expect major changes to take place in terms of the business and trade opportunities for American and other international companies. A lot of negotiations are ongoing between the American and Cuban governments and further announcements are likely to be made in 2017.

By 2025 it is worryingly inevitable (worrying because Cuba could lose its charm culturally speaking) that major cities such as Havana and Varadero will have a McDonald’s, a Starbucks and so on. Expect smaller towns though to remain largely unchanged. The level of investment which would be needed to develop this large set if islands is such that investment will be very focused.

Cruise Port

One of the biggest changes and benefits to Cuba in its tourism drive, will be the influence cruise travel and the Maribel Port, will have on the country. Expect to see a new major road eventually connecting Maribel and the central parts of Havana. Cuba is beautifully positioned to attract cruise lines who transport tourists from Miami and Fort Lauderdale and who are always looking for viable cruise port locations.

Some cruise companies have already started to tap into the Cuban cruise market, with Thomson and Fred Olsen already including Cuba in their routes. Expect the cruise market in Cuba though to rise ten-fold by 2015 as the country opens up and becomes a significant cruise port, with the major cruise lines using Maribal.

Expect to see cruises with P&O stopping off in Cuba

Cultural Centers

One result of the quite distinctive history of the last sixty years in Cuba, will be efforts to remember the Cuba of today and to document and preserve elements of life under Castro. Expect to see a major cultural center open up in the heart of Havana and to become one of the major tourist attractions in the country. The old style American cars which are iconic on the streets of Havana, will only be visible in museums and the cultural center in 2025.

A Building Site

Anybody who has visited Barcelona in the last decade will appreciate that any major city such as Havana, which undergoes massive re-development, will not change overnight but very often over the course of twenty or so years. Havana will look very different in 2025 as buildings are torn down for the first time in fifty years, but the city will look in part, like a building site in Havana with a city skyline of cranes. Barcelona two decades after the city redeveloped for the 1992 Olympics, still remains a permanent building site. Whilst different in many respects to Havana, the level of investment will not be so different.

The People

The great hope for most of us is that the people of Cuba will benefit from any investment and future changes at governmental level. Poverty exists on many surrounding Caribbean Islands and Cuba is unfortunately likely to continue to see an imbalance financially. Large American and international companies will seek to also aid the local people but expect limits to what is achieved. In 2025 far more people than now will own their own business and will again be allowed to own their own home. Many Cubans will also benefit from family abroad such as with relatives now in the United States.