Capitalist Measures within a Socialist Model: a Commodity Chains Analysis of the Emerging Cuban Tourism Industry

Abstract

Over the past several years Cuba has evolved from a relatively isolated country that shunned tourism to one of the Caribbean's most important leisure destinations for international visitors. The island's reliance on tourism has forced it to reinsert itself into the global capitalist economy and undergo substantial economic transformation, including several capitalist measures. This analysis uses a Global Commodity Chain (GCC) analysis to map the geography and organization of the different segments involved in the Cuban tourism industry. A GCC allows us to examine the physical and human geography of the area, the conception, planning, and implementation involved in the development of the various sites, the major local and foreign organizations involved, and marketing and advertising strategies. I find that the organizational and cultural cohesiveness managed by the Cuban government along the segments of the chain, its ability to maintain key areas of control over tourism sectors even when foreign partners are heavily involved, and its ability to reinsert itself into the global economy through the tourism industry are major factors that explain the unprecedented growth rates in the Cuban tourism industry. This research supports much of the recent literature on GCCs, which contend that developmental performance is affected by a state's ability to strategically participate in an increasingly integrated internationalized system. The Cuban case further illustrates how market mechanisms can be reconciled with state planning while maintaining the socialist orientation of the economy.