Last month, President Barack Obama allowed Americans to make unlimited trips and money transfers to family in Cuba, easing restrictions that had been in place for almost 50 years.
Now, Chicago-based Orbitz has launched a campaign to reverse legislation that prohibits travel to Cuba for most U.S. citizens.
This week, Orbitz launched the website OpenCuba.org, where Internet users can lobby to President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and members of Congress to end the decades-old travel restrictions. The petition reads:
"We call on you to reverse our failed policy of isolation and end the 50-year ban on travel to Cuba in the United States. We believe that every American should have the freedom to travel to any country in the world, including Cuba, because the interaction between peoples from different countries is the single most powerful way to advance the causes of peace and prosperity."
Barney Harford, 37, is the president and chief executive of Orbitz. As a British national, he was able to visit Havana in 1997 and has been captivated by Cuban culture since then. After a recent visit to the White House with the president, Harford was inspired to build support for his cause by directly addressing his website's 14 million monthly visitors.
"We want to organize our customers and other interested parties to reach out to Obama and other government officials," Harford told the Tribune.
But is the website, which was designed and built in a mere two weeks, an act of humanitarian politics or a self-serving move in business?
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After all, Orbitz is the second-largest online travel agency (behind Expedia) and could possibly earn millions of dollars if the travel ban is lifted.
Also, every person who signs the petition at OpenCuba.org will receive a $100 coupon redeemable on Orbitz toward a vacation to Cuba. The vouchers would become valid only if the travel ban is lifted.
"There certainly will be some who position what Orbitz is doing as a crass example of corporate marketing at the expense of those in Cuba who are not free to travel, not free to have access to the Internet to voice their opinion," said John Kavulich, senior policy advisor for the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.
According to an Orbitz poll, two-thirds of Americans support ending the travel ban.
"This is the year 2009," said Delvis Fernandez Levy, president of the Cuban American Alliance Education Fund. "It's time to start a new era."
Matt Bartosik, editor of Off the Rocks' next issue, wonders if this generation should pay for the sins of their grandfathers.
