Cuba sees 2 million foreign visitors in first half of 2016

HAVANA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Cuba has seen 2 million foreign visitors as of June 12 this year, reaching the goal 27 days earlier compared with last year, the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba announced Tuesday.

Cuba has received 94,000 U.S. travelers so far this year, a 93 percent surge from the same period of last year, just behind Canada, Germany and Britain in terms of visitor number.

Restored diplomatic ties between the two nations have encouraged more Americans to visit the island despite travel restrictions still in place. American citizens are banned to travel to Cuba purely for tourism but they can go there for educational and business purposes.

In the wake of the diplomatic breakthrough, the Caribbean island has garnered worldwide attention, resulting in more visits by foreign tourists.

In 2015, a total of 3.5 million tourists traveled to Cuba, up 17 percent from 2014. It is expected that there will be 3.85 million foreign travelers this year.