Cuba Tourism: North America, Europe Biggest Markets In 2016 For Caribbean Nation As Tourism Surges

The tourism industry in Cuba saw a boost in 2016 with over 4 million international tourists traveling to the Caribbean country the past year, according to reports. The country also witnessed a 13 percent increase in tourists from North America and Europe — Cuba’s biggest markets in terms of tourism in 2016.

Cuba surpassed its goal of drawing 3.8 million international tourists by 6 percent and it is likely to get over 4.1 million tourists in 2017, TeleSur reported Saturday, citing the country’s tourism ministry. The growth in tourist numbers is attributed to access to larger number of international flights.

Increasing number of tourists from the United States are heading to Cuba despite the U.S. embargo on the country. Although trade embargo does not allow Americans to visit Cuba for tourism, they can travel to the island nation for reasons such as family visits, educational, humanitarian or religious.

Last October, U.S. President Barack Obama eased several travel and commerce sanctions against Cuba. Commercial airlines began flying to the country last August after the Department of Transportation approved flights to Havana and nine other cities with international airports by American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines. Southwest Airlines launched its inaugural flight from Tampa, Florida, to the Cuban capital last December.

In Europe, Austrian Airlines and Russia’s Azur Air began weekly flights to Cuba and Virgin Atlantic started a weekly flight from London to Havana. French airliners XL Airways and Air Caraibes have also started flights to Cuba. According to the Cuban tourism ministry, over 165,000 French tourists visited the country in 2016.