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Want to do business in Cuba? Be prepared to jump through a lot of hoops

 
Tourists in a vintage convertible take in the sights in Havana in March. Although warmer relations with the United States make travel easier, obstacles still remain for American business interests hoping to expand into the communist nation.
Tourists in a vintage convertible take in the sights in Havana in March. Although warmer relations with the United States make travel easier, obstacles still remain for American business interests hoping to expand into the communist nation.
Published May 6, 2016

TAMPA — Nearly 37,000 people traveled between Tampa International Airport and Cuba in 2015, spending $1 million just to get there, and local businesses are working to figure out how to get in on the action.

But there are lot of hoops to jump through, cautioned Tim Hunt, a lawyer who represents American businesses trying in Cuba.

"In this communist country there is no way to separate business from politics," he began in a presentation to business and community leaders in Tampa on Thursday morning sponsored by the Urban Land Institute. "Anyone who is looking to do business in Cuba is effectively paralyzed unless you find the right folks in the Cuban government to push your proposal through."

After the 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union, from which Cuba had been receiving substantial economic support, the island nation turned to tourism as a way to support itself. Cuba in 2014 had about 3 million visitors from Europe and Canada, Hunt said. The thousands of people traveling from the United States these days can make a big difference in Cuba, but the improved relationship may not be as fruitful for American interests, he said.

"They want U.S. companies to come to Cuba, rebuild their country and for the most part, leave," he said.

And yet major U.S. corporations like Sprint, Carnival Cruise Line and Starwood Hotels and Resorts have worked out deals to break into the Cuban market.

Successful business deals, Hunt said, required the business representatives flying to Cuba and finalizing an agreement with the Cuban government before approaching the U.S. government for a license.

Hotel rooms are scarce, he said, Internet and cellphone service is hard to come by and can prove a barrier for business owners.

Florida Produce of Hillsborough County Inc., has been exporting food to Cuba since 2001. Hunt represented the Tampa-based business in the negotiations between the Cuban and U.S. governments. Last last year the company got the green light to open a warehouse in Cuba. According to Hunt, it will be the first American company in more than 60 years with permission to open a physical location in Cuba. It is unclear when it will open.

Janet Zink, the assistant vice president of media and government relations for Tampa International Airport, also presented at the event Thursday.

"We're the third largest Cuban-American population in the U.S.," Zink said. "A lot of that is people traveling to visit their families."

The airport will find out this summer whether or not the Department of Transportation approved its application to offer daily flights to Havana. Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles and John F. Kennedy International Airports are also in the running.

She said while they don't collect data on the reasons that people are flying, anecdotally the city has become a stopping point for educational and business groups from around the country on their way to Cuba.

June and July are the busiest months for Cuba travel, she said. "We're up to nine flights a week right now."

Contact Alli Knothe at aknothe@tampabay.com. Follow @KnotheA.