In January a team of agency researchers spent 10 days in Cuba interviewing more than 40 Cubans about their lives, the economy, and opportunities as relations with the United States improve. The result is The Promise of Cuba, a 78-page PDF report that explores the following topics in depth:
The Economy: An executive summary on Cuba’s current economic situation, how it got there, and the chance for rapid growth.
Tourism: A deep dive into tourism, including analysis of Cuba as a vacation paradise for millennials in the coming years and decades.
The New Cuban Consumer: The emergence of a class society in Cuba and how this is reflected in consumer culture.
Technology: How Cubans have hacked their way into the 21st century, with smartphones that work without WiFi, and digital culture that thrives away from internet connections.
The full report also contains special sections including the following:
Generation Upstart: The emergence of a new Cuban generation under 30, defined by their entrepreneurialism, sophisticated understanding of consumer culture, and determination to succeed despite restrictions on information and business activities in their country.
El Paquete: The “weekly package”—Cuba’s “offline internet”—and how it allows digital advertising to thrive even in a country that officially outlaws advertising.
Media Renaissance: A new crop of independent youth magazines chronicling the country’s underground arts and emerging commercial culture.
Key Growth Sectors: Information on key sectors of the economy that are expected to grow if trade relations with the US are normalized.
