Cuba scrambles to keep pace with U.S.-fueled tourism boom

[FrodosPet]

I would love to visit Cuba, but it is probably going to get far too expensive and far too Americanized before I can do it.

[hr]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cuba-scrambles-to-keep-pace-with-us-fueled-tourism-boom/ar-BBsEbmH?li=BBnb4R7&ocid=iehp

The number of U.S. visitors to Cuba has nearly doubled this year, its tourism minister said on Wednesday, as the island races to build hotels and expand Havana airport to keep up with booming demand.

Tourism has taken off since Cuba and the United States announced they would work to bury the Cold War hatchet in December 2014. The Caribbean island received a record 3.5 million visitors last year.

The influx has pushed capacity to the limit, prompting hotels to sharply hike prices and raising questions about how Cuba will absorb additional visitors when scheduled U.S. commercial airline service starts later this year.

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The number of visitors so far in 2016 jumped 13.5 percent on the year to 1.5 million tourists, Marrero said. Of those, 94,000 were Americans, a 93-percent jump on the year, and more than 115,000 were Cuban-Americans.

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[Mika]

1. Hard to build-out infrastructure cost effectively when under extraterritorial sanctions.

Plus, Cuban-Americans and Cuban US resident aliens were always allowed to visit (with restrictions, until recently).

I go often to visit family and friends. I highly rec that you go as soon as you can.