SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phocuswright -- Switchfly, Inc., the technology company powering travel search/booking and loyalty program engagement for the world’s most celebrated brands, today released a survey gauging how interested Americans are in visiting Cuba, the formerly off-limits land of vintage cars, beautiful beaches, cigars, mojitos, and Ernest Hemingway.
The answer: moderately interested.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Switchfly and found that 37 percent of Americans would consider taking a trip to Cuba. 49 percent of Millennial men (aged 18-34) will consider visiting, along with 43 percent of Millennial women, and 46 percent of men 45-54. The prospect of traveling to Cuba is also popular among students and college graduates, of whom 52 percent and 50 percent would visit, respectively. Least likely to visit? 35-44 year old women, of whom only 24 percent will consider a visit to Cuba.
Men are more willing to consider a visit a trip to Cuba, especially Baby Boomer men:
|
Americans Who Would Ever Go to Cuba |
|||||||||
| Men 18-34 | 49 percent | Women 18-34 | 43 percent | ||||||
| Men 35-44 | 39 percent | Women 35-44 | 24 percent | ||||||
| Men 45-54 | 46 percent | Women 45-54 | 28 percent | ||||||
| Men 55-64 | 35 percent | Women 55-64 | 31 percent | ||||||
| Men 65+ | 35 percent | Women 65+ | 28 percent | ||||||
| Total Men: | 42 percent | Total Women: | 32 percent | ||||||
“In terms of marketing Cuba to customers, travel providers should focus on Millennials,” said Daniel Farrar, CEO of Switchfly. “That is definitely where the majority of initial interest lies at this moment in time. As for travelers preparing to visit Cuba for the first time: be sure to bring plenty of cash to exchange upon arrival at the airport, as American bank cards are not yet accepted at Cuban banks, and have all visas in order before departure. Those two precautions will prevent some serious headaches.”
Ellos No Van
Across gender categories – with the exception of Baby Boomer (aged 45-54) men – the older the American, the more likely they are without interest in visiting Cuba.
| Americans Who Will Never Go to Cuba | |||||||||
| Men 18-34 | 22 percent | Women 18-34 | 29 percent | ||||||
| Men 35-44 | 41 percent | Women 35-44 | 46 percent | ||||||
| Men 45-54 | 27 percent | Women 45-54 | 46 percent | ||||||
| Men 55-64 | 51 percent | Women 55-64 | 50 percent | ||||||
| Men 65+ | 48 percent | Women 65+ | 51 percent | ||||||
| Total Men: | 37 percent | Total Women: | 43 percent | ||||||
Both Millennial men and women joined Baby Boomer (aged 45-54) men in being least likely to rule out a visit to Cuba (29 percent, 22 percent, and 27 percent, respectively).
Those who would consider going will take their time
Of those who would consider a visit to Cuba, 35 percent will wait 2-5 years to visit once “kinks” have been worked out, including 45 percent of 55-64 year olds; 36 percent might go within 5-10 years, including 44 percent of Millennials as a whole, 50 percent of Millennial women, and 30 percent hope to get there before American tourists spoil the country.
Chartered flights between the U.S. and Cuba are already available, with commercial flights by major carriers slated to begin in 2016. To view the PDF of this survey, please visit http://www.switchfly.com/cuba-travel-2015.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Switchfly from September 14-16, 2015 among 2,031 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Gaby@bospar.com
ABOUT SWITCHFLY
Switchfly, Inc. is a global technology company that powers travel commerce and loyalty program engagement for some of the world’s most recognizable brands. Leading airlines, hotels, financial service providers and even retailers depend on Switchfly to power their omnichannel travel and loyalty experiences because it uniquely combines a highly scalable and secure SaaS architecture with deep product and content inventory. Powerful analytics and real-time decision engines allow them to foster contextually-rich customer engagement, even as they benefit from Switchfly’s continuously evolving SaaS platform. Headquartered in San Francisco, Switchfly generates more than $1.25 billion USD in revenue for its clients annually and facilitates the redemption of more than 35 billion reward points and miles each year. The company’s global client roster includes American Airlines, Emirates, JetBlue and LAN Airlines; IAG Avios, Lufthansa Miles & More and United MileagePlus; InterContinental Hotels Group and Starwood Hotels; Expedia, Priceline and Groupon. For more information, visit http://www.switchfly.com.