Tourist numbers increase as ties thaw

The number of US tourists to Cuba increased by 36 percent during the first four months of the year, though traveling to the island country is still restricted by US laws.

A total of 51,458 US citizens visited Cuba from January through April, up 36 percent from the 37,459 registered in the same period of 2014, said Jose Luis Perello, a professor of the Faculty of Tourism at the University of Havana.

Cuba's tourism sector received a record 3 million visitors last year, and now is getting prepared for a tourist boom after an eventual normalization of relations with the United States.