SLP, Mexico – Cuban economist Pedro Monreal called it a lie and a hallucination that the regime continues to refer to tourism as the “engine of the Cuban economy,” when the numbers of international visitors to the country and low hotel occupancy rates suggest otherwise.
Referring to recent statements by Tourism Minister Juan Carlos García Granda, who told the official newspaper Granma that the sector must be the driving force of the Cuban economy, Pedro Monreal countered that it was merely an excuse to justify the government’s “absurd” investment policies.
“They are blatantly lying. There is not a single official Cuban statistic to support such a hallucination. “They are trying to justify the absurd investment policy that has neglected food security, infrastructure, and basic services,” the Cuban expert wrote on x this Monday.
His post was accompanied by an image of a headline from the Castro regime’s press discussing the minister’s remarks: “Cuba reaffirms tourism as the engine of its economy.”
Even though the regime has admitted that this year’s goal of welcoming three million visitors will not be met, officials continue to bet everything on this sector.
“We have taken all possible measures to improve the indicators, while creating wholesale tourism supply companies, some of which are 100% foreign-owned, so we will be in a better position than during last year’s high season,” García Granda told Granma.
With the narrative that tourism must be the foundation of the Cuban economy, the official justifies the large volume of investment the sector continues to receive, to the detriment of areas like Health, Education, and basic services.
This year, the Cuban regime doubled its investment in hotels and restaurants. While 2.325 billion pesos were invested in these sectors between January and June of 2023, that figure rose to 4.931 billion pesos during the same period in 2024, representing a 112% increase.
In the sector of Business Services, Real Estate, and Rental Activities—which includes hotel construction—11,389 billion pesos were allocated, accounting for 26.4% of the total budget.
Hotels and restaurants (with 11.4%) and the previously mentioned sector (26.4%), along with Manufacturing (19.5%), account for more than 50% of the total investments in the country.
Amid the need to increase the number of international visitors, and with the start of the peak tourism season, the Cuban regime has allocated resources to repairs and “improvements” in hotel facilities.
According to reports published in the state-run press to praise the recovery efforts in the tourism sector, hotel facilities have undergone “construction benefits.” These include renovations to rooms, lobbies, recreation areas, furniture, walls, electrical systems, water circuits, plumbing, bathrooms, bathtubs, mattresses, and air conditioning—while many Cubans wait years for the repair or delivery of homes lost to natural disasters.
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