TY - JOUR
T1 - The tourism model in Post-Castro Cuba
T2 - Tensions between ideology and economic realities
AU - Balslev, Helene
AU - Velázquez, Mario
PY - 2018/9/3
Y1 - 2018/9/3
N2 - Cuba is at a crossroads in its transition from a socialist to a market-oriented mixed economy. The death of Fidel Castro, and the steps taken by Raúl Castro to normalize relations between Cuba and the US, have generated a wave of tourism opportunities. However, deep tensions remain between the Cuban state's centralized socioeconomic model and economic realities. Using the framework of diverse economies, we challenge tourism scholars to unlock the diversity of economies and exchanges that exist, and the Cuban case study in this paper assists in demonstrating why this is important. Within this sensitive political context, we analyse entrepreneurial businesses known as casas particulares, and their broader significance for Cuba's political futures within the framework of diverse economies. In doing so, we tap into debates about diverse economies. Ethnographic fieldwork is conducted in Viñales, a municipality which has experienced tourism growth, and since 1999 has been a UNESCO World Cultural Landscape. We explore everyday tourism practices and diverse exchanges in tourism to nuance the social and political significance of the State's policies.
AB - Cuba is at a crossroads in its transition from a socialist to a market-oriented mixed economy. The death of Fidel Castro, and the steps taken by Raúl Castro to normalize relations between Cuba and the US, have generated a wave of tourism opportunities. However, deep tensions remain between the Cuban state's centralized socioeconomic model and economic realities. Using the framework of diverse economies, we challenge tourism scholars to unlock the diversity of economies and exchanges that exist, and the Cuban case study in this paper assists in demonstrating why this is important. Within this sensitive political context, we analyse entrepreneurial businesses known as casas particulares, and their broader significance for Cuba's political futures within the framework of diverse economies. In doing so, we tap into debates about diverse economies. Ethnographic fieldwork is conducted in Viñales, a municipality which has experienced tourism growth, and since 1999 has been a UNESCO World Cultural Landscape. We explore everyday tourism practices and diverse exchanges in tourism to nuance the social and political significance of the State's policies.
KW - Cuba, tourism, alternative economies, casas particulares, Viñales, entrepreneurs
KW - Cuba
KW - diverse economies
KW - everyday practices
KW - entrepreneurs
KW - casas particulares
KW - tourism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052101282&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/21568316.2018.1504817
DO - 10.1080/21568316.2018.1504817
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2156-8316
VL - 15
SP - 551
EP - 566
JO - Journal of Tourism Planning and Development
JF - Journal of Tourism Planning and Development
IS - 5
ER -