Directorio de Miami, Miami Beach
The prosperity of the post-World War II period put Miami back on track as
a thriving tourist destination. The exuberance of the age inspired the
opulence and excess of architects like Morris Lapidus, and also inspired new
groups to tourists to vacation in Miami. While Cubans had traveled to Miami
in earlier decades, post-war travel between Cuba and Miami boomed.
By the 1950s, an estimated 50,000 Cuban tourists were visiting Miami each
year, largely as a result of cheaper, more frequent, and improved air
travel. Enticing Cubans to travel to Miami, especially during the off-peak
summer months, proved a boon to the local economy. Now hotels and other
establishments that normally closed down during the summer months could
remain open year-round by catering to Cuban travelers who took advantage of
off-season rates.
Americans also boosted their travel to Cuba during the same years, and
created a tourist landscape between Miami and Havana that was increasingly
interdependent, at least until the 1959 Cuban Revolution, which made Miami
into much more than a vacation spot for thousands of Cubans.
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