Cuba reports positive tourism figures despite global economic weakness

Cuba reports positive tourism figures despite global economic weakness
By The Associated Press (CP)

HAVANA — Cuba says tourism on the island has inched up during the first
nine months of 2010, with both revenue and the number of visitors
climbing despite global economic weakness.

Revenue through September was $1.3 billion, up 3.5 per cent from the
$1.26 billion reported over the same period last year. The number of
tourists also increased during the period, up about 50,000 to 1.89
million through September.

Canada remains the country that sends most tourists to the island — with
733,000 in the first nine months of 2010 — followed by Great Britain,
Italy, Spain and Germany. U.S. tourists are effectively barred from
coming to Cuba, and Washington has maintained a 48-year trade embargo on
the island.

Tourism and nickel production are Cuba's main sources of income. The
country is in the midst of a deep economic downturn. Communist leaders
are in the process of revamping the economy, injecting a measure of free
market capitalism into the state-dominated system.

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