By Expedia Team, on May 26, 2015

Travel to Cuba spikes as US relations improve

Travel from the U.S. to Cuba has increased 36 percent over the first five months of this year compared to 2014, according to the Associated Press. This is attributed to better diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the island country, and stands despite the fact that travel restrictions between the two countries still exist. Many Americans are travelling to Cuba through a third country, like Mexico, to avoid these restrictions. Travellers to Cuba are often interested in seeing a place that has never before been open to them.

Interestingly, travel to Cuba from other countries has also increased. The number of international visitors to the nation has jumped by 14 percent since 2014, according to the AP.

As far as U.S. travellers are concerned, there are many ways around existing travel restrictions, whether through of coming in from another country or claiming an officially sanctioned purpose for the visit. The legality and advisability of these workarounds continues to be in question, according to sources the AP spoke to.

The Cuban government has indicated it is willing and able to accept this increase in tourism, which its own tourism minister cited as a total increase of 30 percent.