Cuba records 16 percent rise of tourists

HAVANA, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Cuba has received two million foreign tourists so far this year, an increase of 16 percent over the same period in 2014, the Ministry of Tourism said Saturday.

In an official statement, the ministry noted that the figure was reached "39 days earlier than in 2014," thanks to "an encouraging performance" in Canada, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, the United States and Argentina.

Cuba received a record-setting inflow of three million foreign vacationers last year, and now the volume is in a dramatic upturn since Cuba and the United States began in December to restore diplomatic relations.

Tourism is the island country's second largest source of foreign revenues, about 2.6 billion U.S. dollars a year, after the export of medical services.