One practical disadvantage for travelers is that, while the financial "embargo' remains, credit cards issued by US banks will not work in Cuba. One advantage is that Cuban people are not at all hostile to US visitors; they are politically correct enough to distinguish governments from people.
Despite the low numbers of US
visitors, "North American' tourism in Cuba
has grown strongly. Canadians have for some time been the biggest single group
of tourists, and their numbers swelled to over 800,000 in 2008. Meanwhile, that
other North American country, the United States of Mexico, has been sending twice
as many tourists as the USA.
Robert Whitely, of U.S. Tour Operators, predicts that "at least 850,000 Americans [i.e. US citizens] will go to Cuba in the first year" after the travel ban is lifted. However the effective abandonment of policing travellers means that the way is pretty open right now.
References:
OFAC enforcement information is online at: http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/civpen/2007.shtml
Tourism data on Cuba
is online at: http://www.one.cu/aec2008/esp/15_tabla_cuadro.htm
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