Cuba is now hoping to attract more travellers than ever as it is set to increase capacity at Havana cruise ship terminal. Roughly 700,000 passengers are due to visit Cuba in 2018.
Cuba made a deal with the largest cruise port operator in the world, Global Ports Holding, to triple cruise ship berths from 2 to 6 by 2024.
For the last 3 years cruise tourism has been on the up after in May 2016 President Barack Obama eased US trade-embargo rules on travel to Cuba for US citizens. Previously, the last cruiser to enter Cuban waters was in 1977.
In November 2017 President Donald Trump tightened sanctions but passenger ships continued to operate. In 2015, a total of 37,513 cruise passengers came to the country, while in 2017 they were 397,520.
In May 2018 tourism minister Manuel Marrero Cruz announced that more than 500,000 cruise passengers had come to Cuba. About 700,000 are expected to visit the country by the end of the year.
While flying to Cuba from the United Kingdom presents no problems, travelling for tourism reasons from the USA to Cuba is not allowed under US law.