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Anchor Jeb Sharp speaks with Barney Harford, President and CEO of Orbitz Worldwide. The company is calling for an end to the U.S. ban on travel to Cuba.

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JEB SHARP: Since the 1960s the US government has not allowed most of its citizens to travel directly to Cuba. There’s now proposed legislation in Congress to lift that ban. Yesterday the House of Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on the issue. One campaign against the ban though has been underway since May. It was launched by the online travel company Orbitz Worldwide. Barney Harford is the company’s president and CEO.

BARNEY HARFORD: At Orbitz we believe passionately in the power that travel has to transform lives and in the way that bringing people together of different cultures can bring together people and create peace and prosperity. So believe that giving Americans the freedom to travel to Cuba has the potential to bring together both Cuba and the United States as countries and enrich Americans lives as they visit the country of Cuba.

SHARP: So why get involved in this as a company as Orbitz Worldwide?

HARFORD: Well Orbitz is a leading travel company around the world. Our business is helping people to travel. And we believe that Americans should have the freedom to travel wherever they choose. Today, Cuba is the only country in the world that Americans can’t travel to. If you’re an America you can travel to Iraq. You can travel to Iran. You can travel to North Korea. You can travel to the Sudan. You can’t travel to Cuba. That doesn’t make sense.

SHARP: And obviously it’s a great market for Orbitz if the travel ban is lifted. But what about the view that it’s important to keep the pressure on the Castro regime, to curb human rights abuses and that by dropping the travel ban you’re taking the pressure off.

HARFORD: Well look the ban’s been in place for almost 50 years. It’s pretty broadly agreed that it hasn’t had its desired effect. I think it’s important to separate freedoms for Americans from foreign policy goals of America. I draw the example to China. America removed the ban on travel to China in the early 70s and since then, in the last 40 years almost, we’ve seen the development of probably the most important diplomatic relationship in the world today between China and the United States. And while the United States and China may not see eye to eye on all issues, it’s still a very important relationship and as a result of that relationship I think there’s been significant travel between the two countries and that’s been a key part of bringing those two countries together. So while it’s certainly the case that the United States and Cuba may not see eye to eye we don’t believe that’s a reason to ban Americans from traveling there.

SHARP: How are you going to persuade the leading critics though? I mean people who are worried that billions of dollars of tourist money are going to flow to the Cuban regime.

HARFORD: Well you know I think what the open Cuba campaign does is give voice to Americans who want to share their opinion. It is the largest grassroots campaign on this issue. And to date we’ve had over 100,000 people think that it’s calling on politicians across the spectrum to support the freedom to travel act which is before both the house and the senate right now and has seen very broad support in terms of co-sponsors from politicians across both sides of the house.

SHARP: Well Barney Harford, president and CEO of Orbitz Worldwide. Thanks for talking to us.

HARFORD: Thank you.

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