US travellers to Cuba up 84 per cent

US travellers to Cuba up 84 per cent
AP on July 8, 2016, 2:16 pm

The number of American travellers to Cuba rose 84 per cent for the first
half of the year compared with the same January-June period in 2015.

Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero announced the figure to members of
parliament, Cuban state news agency Prensa Latina reported, reflecting a
continuing surge in US interest in the island amid a broader diplomatic
thaw between the Cold War foes that began in late 2014.

The total number of US visitors was not made public, though for all of
last year, nearly 160,000 leisure travellers flew to Cuba. The figures
do not include the hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans who travel
to the island each year on family visits.

As part of the push to normalise relations, US President Barack Obama
has loosened "people-to-people" cultural and educational visits to Cuba,
and Americans are now able to plan their own trips and self-certify that
they comply with US regulations. Washington is also in the process of
approving US commercial airline service to the island, with flights
expected to begin in the northern autumn.

Overall tourism to Cuba was up 11.7 per cent for the first six months of
2016, with a total of 2,147,600 travellers to the island, Prensa Latina
reported. There were also significant increases in visitors from nations
such as Spain, Italy, Poland and Germany.

Source: US travellers to Cuba up 84 per cent - Yahoo New Zealand -
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/32011555/us-travellers-to-cuba-up-84-per-cent/#page1