U.S. Adds New Sanctions on Cuba Hotels and Tourist Attractions

The Trump Administration on Wednesday added new names to a list of Cuban places that Americans cannot visit.

The State Department added 26 tourism venues to the list – including 19 hotels ranging from the new five-star Iberostar Grand Packard in Old Havana to resorts in Cayos de Villa Clara – that are “entities and sub-entities controlled by the Cuban military, intelligence, and security services or personnel.”

Certain restaurants and stores are also prohibited.

While tourists are barred from visiting the hotels and other businesses on the list, travel to the island is still legal. After the Obama Administration opened up travel to Cuba, President Trump reinstated sanctions that have been in place for over 50 years.

The number of U.S. visitors to Cuba for the first half of 2018, not including Cuban-Americans, slumped 24 percent to 266,000, according to three different sources with access to Cuban tourism industry data, Reuters reports. U.S. tourism appears to be picking back up over the summer, however, when 68,000 Americans travelled to the island in June, a 5 percent increase from 2017.