Destino seguro: Sensual Licence and Moral Capital in Cuba’s Nation Brand

ABSTRACT

This article considers Cuban tourism campaigns as exploitations of moral distinction, underpinned by revolutionary policy and ideology. Drawing on campaign materials and interviews with state actors in the tourist sector, this article explores Cuba’s nation brand since the 2000s as the strategic appropriation of moral capital. Reflecting society's strong moral basis, articulations of safety, stability and solidarity may be read as attempts to correct unwanted reputations, distinguish Cuba from rival Latin American and Caribbean destinations, and galvanise the legitimacy of Revolution through a codified celebration of its successes. The article thus seeks to add nuance to persistent interpretations of Cuban tourism development since the 1990s as a profit-driven compromise to the Revolution’s moralistic impulse.

KEYWORDS:

• Cuba
• nation branding
• morality
• capital
• safety
• Caribbean

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The recent intensification of the US embargo under Trump has ushered in what many in Cuba are referring to as a second “Special Period”, similarly characterised by the widespread shortages of basic necessities including food, toiletries, medicine and petrol.

2 “Doble moral” refers to the sense that in Cuban society, the reliability or truth of one’s actions and accounts are highly reflective of and dependent on context (Hansing, 2011, p. 18).