Cuba Travel from USA
I'm an American, can I travel to Cuba legally? What is the General License application about? What documentation should I put together? What kind of trips to Cuba can I join as an education professional? Can I take my students to Cuba from USA? Can you help? Yes, we can! We have put together a blog that attempts to explain in easy terms the complex issues surrounding USA Cuba travel. Follow us!
US Cuba Travel Explained
Cuba Tours
Whether you want to go to Cuba for Professional Research, Support for the Cuban People, Professional Meetings, Religious Activities, Public Performances, Exhibitions or Workshops, chances are you can find a Cuba tour that matches your interest in our 2024 rooster. Here’s our full roster of Cuba tours:
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Cuba Cultural Festivals
 International Ballet Festival of Havana 2024. Organized by the Cuba’s National Ballet, the International Ballet Festival of Havana draws dancers, choreographers and companies from all over the globe.
 Jo Jazz Festival of Havana The Jo Jazz Havana is the result of music education in Cuba. As talented young jazz musicians emerged from Cuban music schools every year, they are eager to showcase their talents in Havana’s most popular jazz venues.
 The Havana Art Biennial 2024 is an exciting celebration featuring not only the best of Cuban visual artists, but also artists from other countries from Latin America, the Caribbean, and from developing countries.
 Cuba Festival of New Latin American Cinema. The Havana Film Festival is a cultural event with no parallel for the promotion of Spanish language filmmakers. It draws thousands of movie goers and cultural buffs from all over Cuba each December.
 Authentic Cuba cultural travel goes to Havana for the 39th Jazz Festival of Havana 2024 organized by renowned Cuban jazz musician Chucho Valdes will run January 22- 28, 2024 at several locations in Havana.
 Travel to the festival with the highest attendance in Cuba: the 32nd Havana International Book Fair 2024 that will begin in Havana City on February 2024, and then it will spread east and west of the capital. The book fair will end in Santiago de Cuba.
 The Habano Cigar Festival 2024 is considered by experts as the biggest world party to promote the Premium type cigar. It only competes with this one, without surpassing its quality, the Big Smoke of Las Vegas in the United States.
 Travel to Santiago de Cuba for the Fiesta del Fuego Festival 2024 (Fire Festival 2024) that highlights the cultural expressions of the region. The annual Fire Festival is a very well-known street party taking place in the month of July in the city of Santiago de Cuba.
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Cuba Cultural Tours,
The Authentic Cuba Travel® Approach
Featured Cuba Tours & Travel 2024
Cuba Cultural Travel, Authentic Cuba Travel®'s Crown Jewel
Authentic Cuba Tours for Art Teachers, Art Curators, Photographers, Artists, Dancers and those travellers interested in Cuban Culture & Arts!
Cuba has the rare ability to maintain its own cultural identity among Caribbean countries, perhaps because of being one of the last communist countries in the world, or perhaps because USA Cuba travels regulations that have prevented the island from being flooded by American tourists as it was the case before 1959. Whatever the reason, Cuba cultural tours from Authentic Cuba Travel® will take you to explore the authentic Cuba and into the heart and soul of the Cuban people and culture.
While there are many companies that offer cultural tours to Cuba these days, very few take you beyond beach resorts and mainstream Cuba tourism destinations. Our Authentic Cuba tours offer many ways to explore the Cuban culture. Support for the Cuban People Cuba tours advance discovery in areas as diverse as the Jewish heritage in Cuba to Cuban fine arts, photography and performing arts.
USA Cuba travel is now available to a wider range of Americans for the first time in 50 years due to a rare political opening, and for those in the United States looking to see Cuba, legal travel from USA should be taken advantage of while the opportunity exists. Whether you want to explore performing arts, dance, music, painting, or to embark on a photography tour, Cuba cultural travel is definitely the way to see the authentic Cuba! Browse our Cuba cultural & educational tours today to find out what sets Authentic Cuba Travel® apart from the rest!
Notice to US Arts Organizations, Foundations and Institutes; US Ballet Theatre Companies; US Centers for the Performing Arts; US International Centers of Photography, US Museums of Photography Arts, and other Cultural Organizations and Associations from US:
US Arts Organizations, Foundations and Institutes; US Ballet Theatre Companies; US Centers for the Performing Arts; US International Centers of Photography, US Museums of Photography Arts, and other Cultural Organizations and Associations from USA can organize a trip to Cuba under the provisions of the General License for Educational Activities, the General License for Group People-to-people Educational Travel, the General License for Support for the Cuban People, the General License for Professional Research, the General License for Semi-Professional & Amateur International Sports Competition, the General License for Humanitarian Projects, the General License for Activities of Private Foundations or Research or Educational Institutes among others. Certain conditions are to be met to comply with OFAC General License requirements for each category of USA Cuba travel though.
The mission of your organization and the objective of your trip to Cuba determine under what general license you can travel to Cuba legally. In general, most trips should consist of a full-time schedule of activities intended to promote the exchange with the ordinary citizens of Cuba. This full-time schedule must also include educational activities that result in meaningful interaction in between U.S and Cuban nationals. Free time in excess or regular tourists' activities are not permitted.
We take care of all details both in North America and in Cuba, including VISA and flight arrangements to Cuba's main destinations via USA ports (Miami, Tampa, New York, Los Angeles, or other) or through third countries like Canada and Mexico. Authorized US organizations can travel through a third country subject to the same restrictions and requirements as those flying directly from USA.
At Authentic Cuba Travel®, we have been organizing such educational and cultural travel experiences from the United States of America for years with great success.
Why Authentic Cuba Travel®?
Cuban Culture Today
The cultural heritage of Cuba is rooted in a distinctly unique combination of Aboriginal, French, Chinese, Spanish, and African cultures. Since 1959, the Cuban Revolution has promoted Cuban culture by creating number of art schools and guarantying salaries for Cuban artists.
Many cultural institutions have been founded such as the Cuban Film Institute, the Cuba’s National Ballet (that has gained worldwide recognition in this period), the Cuban Institute of Music and the National Cultural Council as well as museums, Afro-Cuban folklore ensembles and theatre groups.
In contrast to earlier periods, when Cuban culture was permeated by foreign influences, the promotion of domestic cultural expressions has been paramount and a revaluation of Cuba’s unique African heritage and Afro-Cuban folklore groups have been fostered.
Music Cuba’s most important ethnomusicologist Fernando Ortiz described Cuban music as “a love affair between the African drum and the Spanish guitar”. A simple yet comprehensive description of what Cuban music is about, a happy marriage of African beats and Spanish melodies.
Painting Early evidence of Cuban painting can be found in the religious mural paintings and oils of Jose Nicolas de La Escalera (1734- 1804). However, for the greater part of 18th century, portrait and religious painting dominated Cuban artistry production. In 1818, the Academy of Painting of San Alejandro was founded, dominating Cuban art until the 1920’s when a group of young Cuban painters broke away from the academy into more European avant-garde trends that had sensationalized Europe decades earlier.
Literature Cuban literature dates as far back as 1605 to a poem titled Espejo de Paciencia written by Silvestre de Balboa.
It is in the early 19th century that Cuban literature really began to emerge as its own unique style of writing. The turning point for Cuba literature is regarded to have come with the lyrical poetic works of Jose Maria Heredia (1803-1839), with his famed Oda al Niagara and En El Teocalli de Chobula being considered the start to the Spanish Romanticism style of writing.
Film The Cuban Film Institute, or the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) was created in the early days of the Cuban Revolution placing emphasis on documentary production at first. Icon Cuban directors of the last fifty years are Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Humberto Solas. The former was the creator of the film Strawberry and Chocolate that won the Berlin Film Festival’s special prize in 1994 and tells the intricacies of the relationship in between the Revolution supporters and Cuban homosexuals.
Cuba Travel NEWS
After the publication of the new amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (31 CFR Part 515) on June 9, 2022, none of the existing 12 categories of Cuba legal travel have been eliminated, the US embassy in Havana will remain open and commercial flights will continue to Havana only.
It is possible for US citizens to go to Cuba legally under the General License for Educational Activities (515.565), the General License for Professional Research (515.564), the General License for Support for the Cuban People (515.574), and others still in place.
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Notice to US Schools of the Arts; US Schools of Photography; US Ballet Schools; US Schools of Music & Dance; US Schools for the Performing Arts; and other Academic Institutions from USA:
In January 2016, the US Government announced further enhancements to the 12 categories of authorized travel to Cuba that previously required a specific license (this is, lengthy applications to OFAC). Now travel to the Caribbean island is allowed under a general license (this is, self-completed paperwork with no application to OFAC needed).
After President Biden’s policy change on USA Cuba travel on June 9, 2022, the General License for Educational Activities remains in place. Accredited U.S. graduate or under graduate degree-granting institutions; U.S. Academic Institutions; and U.S. Schools can organize and sponsor an educational trip to Cuba for their students, faculty and staff under the General License for Educational Activities, provided that the trip meets OFAC guidelines; and that an employee or other representative of the organization escorts the trip to make sure such guidelines are followed by all participants.
US Schools of the Arts; US Schools of Photography; US Ballet Schools; US Schools of Music & Dance; US Schools for the Performing Arts; and other Academic Institutions from USA can organize and sponsor a trip to Cuba for educational activities. The purpose of the Cuba travel should be for:
_ the participation in a structured educational program offered for credit as part of a course of the sponsoring institution;
_ educational exchanges sponsored by Cuban or U.S. secondary schools involving secondary school students’ participation in a formal course of study or in a structured educational program offered by a secondary school or other academic institution, and led by a teacher or other secondary school official are authorized. This authorization allows for participation of a reasonable number of adult chaperones to accompany the secondary school students to Cuba.
_ attendance at non-commercial academic seminars, conferences and workshops related to Cuba sponsored or co-sponsored by U.S. academic institution.
_ non- commercial academic research related to Cuba for the purpose of obtaining a graduate or undergraduate degree;
_ the participation in a formal course of study at a Cuban academic institution provided that credits will be accepted toward the student’s graduate or undergraduate degree;
_ participation in a 10-week structured educational program in Cuba as part of a course offered at the U.S. institution;
_ participation in a formal 10-week course of study at a Cuban academic institution, provided the formal course of study in Cuba will be accepted for credit toward the student’s undergraduate or graduate degree at the U.S. institution;
We take care of all details both in North America and in Cuba, including VISA and flight arrangements to Cuba's main destinations via USA ports (Miami, Tampa, New York, Los Angeles, or other) or through third countries like Canada and Mexico. Authorized US organizations can travel through a third country subject to the same restrictions and requirements as those flying directly from USA.
At Authentic Cuba Travel®, we have been organizing such educational and cultural travel experiences from the United States of America for years with great success.
Check Our Most Popular Cuba Study Trips
Most Popular Cuba School Programs!
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Authentic Cuba Travel®'s cultural tours are hosted by Cuba’s key Culture ministries, organizing committees and Cuban culture personalities. Travel with the peace of mind of knowing you are in the best hands!
