Havana, January 9 (RHC) -– Following U.S. President Obama’s statement on December 17th, hotel searches to Cuba made by U.S. users on the Internet increased by 180 percent, according to hotel search website trivago.co.uk.

The website compared the week preceding Obama's announcement (December 9-16) to the week following the speech (December 17-24).

When specific destinations within Cuba were looked at, U.S. searches to the capital of Havana increased by 206 percent and searches to the resort of Varadero increased by 166 percent over the same period.

In comparison, searches to Cuba made by UK users increased by 42 per cent over the same period.

When searches to Cuba from other countries were looked at (UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy), an increase in travel interest was noted from all countries except Germany.

Searches made by UK users increased by 42 percent, Italy by 30 per cent, France by 26 per cent and Spain by 12 percent. Searches made by German users decreased by 25 per cent, over the same period of time.

A similar trend was seen when individual destinations within Cuba were looked at: UK searches to Havana increased by 35 percent and searches to Varadero increased by 64 percent over the same period.

While U.S. searches focused around Havana and Varadero, users from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy also searched for Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Santiago de Cuba and Cayo Santa María.

Denise Bartlett, UK Public Relations, says: “Although it is unlikely the U.S. travel restrictions will be lifted within the next three months, a preliminary increase in hotel searches made by U.S. users indicates the likelihood of strong travel interest in the future.”