AKIPRESS.COM - U.S. hotel company Starwood has become the first American firm to agree a deal with the Cuban authorities since the revolution of 1959, BBC said.

Starwood will renovate and run three hotels in the Cuban capital, Havana.

A spokesman for the company said they would be making a "multimillion-dollar investment to bring the hotels up to our standards."

The news comes on the eve of President Obama's visit to the island – the first by a U.S. president in almost 90 years.

With this visit, and such economic steps, the two sides hope the new ties will soon be irreversible.

Tourism in Cuba is at an all-time high, including a sharp rise in the number of U.S. visitors, especially since travel restrictions were eased by Obama.