jueves, 5 de mayo de 2016

US visitors to Cuba surge 93 percent

US visitors to Cuba surge 93 percent
AFP
May 4, 2016

Havana (AFP) - The number of Americans visiting Cuba surged 93 percent
year-on-year in the first four months of 2016, the Cuban government said
Wednesday.

The communist island is basking in its newfound glow as a trendy tourist
destination since Washington and Havana announced a historic
rapprochement in December 2014.

Cuba has welcomed a stream of celebrities and VIPs since then, including
US President Barack Obama, the pope, the Rolling Stones and German
designer Karl Lagerfeld, who presented a Cuban-inspired runway show
Tuesday for French fashion house Chanel.

The United States still maintains a trade and financial embargo on Cuba
that forbids US citizens from traveling to the island for tourism, but
Obama has loosened restrictions to the point that the first US cruise
ship in 50 years was able to dock in Havana Monday.

The Carnival cruise liner circumvented the tourism ban by offering
passengers "cultural exchanges," including meetings with artists,
musicians and business owners, as well as dance classes and guided tours.

In all, 94,000 Americans visited Cuba from January to April, Tourism
Minister Manuel Marrero said at the opening of an international tourism
fair in Havana.

The figure for all of last year came in at more than 160,000, an
increase of 76 percent from 2014, he said.

Cuba welcomed 3.5 million tourists from around the world last year, a 17
percent increase, adding a much-needed $2.8 billion to the economy.

Regular flights from the United States to Cuba are expected to begin
later this year.

The Cuban government has announced an accelerated hotel construction
program to cope with booming demand.

Source: US visitors to Cuba surge 93 percent -
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-visitors-cuba-surge-93-percent-204527894.html?ref=gs

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