Cuba tourism rises 16 percent: government
Tourism to Cuba was up 16 percent in January from the same time last year, following the historic rapprochement between the communist island and the United States, officials said Monday. Visits from Canadians, who made up nearly half of the 371,160 people who traveled here as tourists, were up 15.5 percent, according to Cuba's National Statistics Office (ONE). Americans -- the majority of whom are still unable to visit the picturesque island under the rapprochement -- arrived in greater numbers as well, with 75,435 visiting the island in January, compared to 66,195 one year earlier. German, British, French and Italian tourists also led the swell of visitors, ONE said.