Information About Cuba Research

                                Cuba Research 

My main question for the research is How much of the economy in Cuba is based on tourism?

My Thesis/Claim for the research is that tourism in Cuba is only a small part of its economy, because Cuba is a big island, United States’ trade policy on Cuba, and lack of tourist spots. 

I found pretty good supporting information to support my initial claim. All of the sources are pretty accurate, but some fluctuate a little in their statistics.  For example one source says that 12% of Cuba's economy is dependent on tourism, while another says 8%. In this case, I average the statistics together. 

So far I have an introduction, 3 body paragraphs and a brief conclusion. I just need to elaborate in my body paragraphs and provide more background information in the introduction. Here is what I have so far:

Cuba, the biggest island in the Caribbean, was founded in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Cuba’s main language is Spanish and its currency is the peso. Cuba’s population is around 11 million and most people in Cuba are Christians. Many people know Cuba for its tourism, but most people don’t know how much of Cuba’s economy is based on tourism. Because Cuba is a big island, United States’ trade policy on Cuba, and lack of tourist spots, Tourism is only a small part of Cuba’s economy.   

                         Because Cuba is a huge island, it is hard to imagine that tourism would be a big part of its economy. This is in fact completely true. According to an article by NPR, only 10% of Cuba’s GDP accounts for tourism. 10% is extremely low compared to St. Martin, another Caribbean island, which has 80% of its GDP based on Tourism. Cuba’s economy has many other parts such as agriculture, industry and businesses. 

                       Another reason why only a small percent of Cuba’s economy is based on tourism is because of United States’ trade policy with Cuba. In 1962, United States cut off all trade relationships with Cuba. This caused US citizens not to travel to Cuba for any form of tourism. In effect, The US boycott of Cuba caused tourism to significantly lower.

                      The final reason why such a small percent of Cuba’s economy is based on Tourism is because there aren't many tourist spots in Cuba. The one major tourist spot unique to Cuba is Old Havana, Cuba’s capital and contains many beautiful architectural buildings. Other than Old Havana, all of the other tourist spots are beaches, which can be found all over the world.

                    My original thesis was that Tourism in Cuba is only a small part of its economy, because Cuba is a big island, United States’ trade policy on Cuba, and lack of tourist spots. All of my supporting points turned out to be true and I support my claims with facts and evidence. 

The US trade policy toward Cuba turned out to have the biggest impact on the Cuba's tourism.

I though Cuba did not have many Tourism spots, and this turned out to be true. Old Havana is the only tourist spot unique to Cuba. All of the other tourist spots in Cuba are beaches, which are all around the world.

Cuba is the Biggest Island in the Caribbean, that is why I thought it would have more to its economy than just tourism.