Hotel workers cried. A huge crisis on a tourist island
Cuba, which is in crisis, has seen the number of foreign visitors drop by more than half compared to last year. There is a fuel shortage and there are problems with food and medicines.
The economic crisis and power outages in Cuba are deterring tourists from traveling to the island. Others cannot reach it even if they wanted to. The Trump administration’s fuel blockage left airlines unable to refuel, causing package tour operators in Canada, Spain and Russia, as well as many scheduled airlines, to withdraw in February. The Guardian reports that as the last tourists departed for the airport in February, some hotel workers cried.
Collapse in Cuba
Data from Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) leave no doubt. Between January and April 2026, the largest country in the Caribbean welcomed only 328,608 foreign tourists, a decline of 55.8%. compared to the same period in 2025. Canadians constituted the largest number of tourists, followed by Cubans living abroad (46,100) and Americans and Russians, 21,000 each.
Some people are not afraid of problems. There, in May, the Guardian met a pair of retired Miami lawyers who were opponents of Donald Trump’s policies. They came for a ten-day vacation. “We have already been there once and visited a bit, we love Cuba,” said Marc Bender.
Tourism is a locomotive for the economy
CBC recalls that before the pandemic, tourism accounted for 10 percent of the country’s total GDP. In 2017, a record number of overnight stays was recorded, which contributed USD 3.3 billion to the country’s economy.
According to Professor Paolo Spadoni from Augusta University, Cuba’s chances of surviving without a functioning tourism industry are currently “very slim.” Spending in hotels, resorts and restaurants is the main source of financial liquidity for an economy in a dire state. In an interview with CBC, he noted that the lack of this source of income will have a huge impact on her.
