The US government is poised to approve a wave of air services to the island, allowing Americans to visit for the first time.
Karolin Troubetzkoy, the new president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, said: “I have heard there is an agreement for 100 commercial flights going to Cuba and I think it will happen fairly soon.
“I would say give it six months, that’s my personal opinion.”
US sources say the likely agreement is up to 20 flights a day to Havana alone, with up to another 10 a day to nine other Cuban gateways.
New research by Travelzoo found that 67% of Americans wanted to visit Cuba, with history and culture being its big appeal.
Tourism chiefs believe US travellers will mainly displace price-sensitive Canadian visitors until hotel capacity catches up with demand.
Troubetzkoy said she expected extensions to be built to existing large hotels, but that long-term, Cuba would go for another market.
“What you will see long term is the whole boutique luxury end will develop, but it will take a minimum of 10 years,” she added.
One thing that would alleviate the accommodation shortage, she said, would be the shifting of cruise ship capacity to Cuba, particularly in Havana.
“There’s a lot of work going on in downtown Havana for the cruise market,” she said. She added that she expected Cuba to become a big centre for medical tourism in the future.
