Cruises from New Orleans to Havana discussed during Edwards' Cuba trip

The Advocate

HAVANA – New Orleans could become a major departure point for tourists who want to travel to Cuba in the future.
As the United States moves toward improved relations with Cuba, Louisiana leaders say they see several opportunities, including the potential for cruise ship lines to offer trips between New Orleans to Havana. Currently travel restrictions from the U.S. to Cuba ban most tourist visits to the Caribbean island nation.
But President Barack Obama and others have signaled that the relations between the countries are improving.
Gov. John Bel Edwards and representatives from four of the state’s major ports, business and education leaders and others are in Cuba this week, largely to work on strengthening trade ties for when an embargo that bans most exports to Cuba is lifted.
Brandy Christian, chief operating officer of the Port of New Orleans said that cruise ship operators generally prefer a cruise that would have people on board for much of a day. The trip between New Orleans and Havana is about 34 hours, she said.
“We see this as a huge opportunity,” she told a group meeting at Cuba’s new Port of Mariel on Wednesday.
Edwards on Tuesday signed a series of largely ceremonial agreements with Cuba that have little practical impact aside from signaling a commitment to building relations with Cuba. His trip, and the signed agreements, has been the subject of both print and television news in Cuba this week.
On Wednesday, Edwards said that the cruise element is an added factor in strengthening partnerships with Cuba.
“It’s part of the overall conversation,” he said.
Cruise ships go to Cuba from the U.S., but passengers have to engage in humanitarian work while visiting.
“Obviously, we look forward to the day when people can just come here as tourists,” Edwards said.
Edwards said overall his trip has been positive. He’s staying in Havana’s central district at a modern-style hotel called Parque Central. On Wednesday he dined at Paladar San Cristobol, a trendy restaurant where Obama ate when he visited Cuba earlier this year and where U.S. Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ate on her visit to the island.
“The people here couldn’t be nicer; the food is great,” Edwards said, noting that the weather also has been mostly warm and breezy on his trip. “I would just encourage (Louisiana residents) to look forward to the day when they can come over and visit and take that opportunity, which we hope will be in the near future.”
Louisiana has led all states in exports to Cuba over the past decade, totaling more than $1.4 billion since 2006.
Edwards said he sees significant room for growth as the U.S. moves toward opening up trade opportunities with Cuba, as well as tourism between Louisiana and Cuba.
“They will be normalizing relations and trade,” he said. “We want to explore what we can do now to prepare for that – it’s much harder but it is possible.”
Charles Baker, director general of operations at the Port of Mariel in Cuba, said he hopes that the Louisiana delegation will stress the need for ending the embargo against Cuba, which will take action by Congress.
“That’s the message we want you to take back,” Baker told leaders before they toured the port’s under-construction warehouses and other facilities.
The Louisiana Legislature this year instructed economic development officials to cultivate even deeper trade relations with Cuba.
Edwards said he expects to have conversations with the state’s Congressional delegation in the coming weeks to inform them of what he’s learned on his trip.
On Wednesday evening, Edwards and the other Louisiana leaders on the trip attended a reception at the U.S. ambassador’s home in Cuba.
Obama last week nominated Jeffery DeLaurentis to serve as the country’s first ambassador to Cuba in several decades.
DeLaurentis and Edwards spent time chatting privately during the reception. DeLaurentis rejected The Advocate’s request to be interviewed, and his comments were made off-the-record as a condition of attending the event.
Edwards said that he felt that talks between the two were productive.
“I think we’re making connections and contacts for when relations are restored,” he said. “We don’t want to wait. We want to see what we can do now.”