Cuba Tourism Industry Collapses

- International visitor numbers have plummeted from a high of 4.7 million in 2018 to just 2.2 million in 2024, with figures for the first half of 2025 showing a further 25% drop compared to the previous year. While Cuba struggles, competing Caribbean destinations like Cancún and Punta Cana are experiencing post-pandemic tourism booms. - A severe energy and fuel crisis is causing rolling blackouts, sometimes lasting over 12 hours a day, and extreme gasoline shortages, crippling transportation and essential services for tourists. This has led some airlines to suspend routes and others to send empty planes to retrieve stranded passengers. - In response to low occupancy and the fuel crisis, the government has temporarily closed approximately 30 hotels and is consolidating remaining tourists into fewer operational resorts to save energy. - The 2019 Trump administration ban on U.S. cruise ships, which were a popular form of travel to the island, caused a "brutal drop" in visitors, according to local business owners. - The U.S. redesignation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in January 2021 deters many European tourists. Travelers who have visited Cuba since then are ineligible for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) and must apply for a visa, a significant bureaucratic hurdle. - Key tourism markets have seen sharp declines; Canadian visitors, Cuba's largest source, dropped by nearly 26% in the first half of 2025, while Russian tourism fell by 43.5%. Tourists report issues with poor service, deteriorating infrastructure, and shortages of food and water. - The government continues to invest heavily in building new luxury hotels, a strategy criticized by some Cuban economists as incongruous while the country faces significant food insecurity and existing hotels remain largely empty.