Cuba reports slight drop in half-year tourist arrivals

Cuba's tourist arrivals in the first half of the year dropped 1.8 percent year on year, the National Statistics Bureau said.

According to the bureau, Cuba received 1,596,883 foreign visitors by the end of June. In the same period last year, 1,626,469 travelers visited the country, an increase of 5.4 percent over the year before.

Canada remains the main source of travelers to the island country in the Caribbean, followed by Britain, Germany, Argentina, France, Italy, Mexico, Russia and Spain.

Meanwhile, tourists from Latin American countries alone also rose, with visitors from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay up a year-on-year 0.65 percent by Aug. 7 of this year to reach 118,303.

Tourism, which earns the country some 2.5 billion U.S. dollars a year,is Cuba's second largest revenue generator, following medical services exports, which bring in about 6 billion dollars.

Tourist arrivials in Cuba in 2012 hit a record high of 2,838,607, up 4.5 percent from the previous year. Industry officials have expected 3 million foreign tourists in 2013.