Yesterday, June 30, 2010, the House Agriculture Committee voted to reverse a decades-long ban on United States citizens traveling to Cuba and to ease restrictions on the sale of American commodities there.

It still is a long way from final approval, but how would this lifting of the Cuban embargo by the USA affect future tourism and development in the DR? Given the present conditions we are seeing on the North Coast, Juan Dolio and Pt Cana/Bavaro/Macao region of the DR, I fear the impact would be somewhat negative. Granted, the USA visitors are not the only ones that pumps money into the DR, but they are a significant portion of tourism (dollars) revenue into the country.

With the negative news of general corruption, drugs, lack of security, fraud, and Haitian influx, the DR will have an uphill battle to win against Cuba. This may initiate the first signs of a downward trend in the DR's growth. I for one feel, Cuba (for US visitors) will give the DR a run for it's money. A new frontier?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/world/americas/01cuba.html