Iberostar Cuba Hotels & Resorts has presented its new brand campaign “Feel its rhythms”an initiative that invites you to rediscover Cuba through its cultural, musical and natural expressions.
The launch occurs at a time when the Spanish hotel chain reinforces its presence on the island and constitutes a strategic alliance between Iberostar Cuba and the prestigious company Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC)who will act as co-producer of audiovisual content and brand ambassador.
According to its promoters, “Feel its rhythms” is inspired by the recent recognition of Cuba as Leading Cultural Destination of the Caribbean for the fifth consecutive time at the World Travel Awards, an award that reaffirms the value of its deep cultural roots as a driver of tourist attraction.
Multimedia strategy with social purpose
The “Feel its rhythms” campaign will be deployed through the channels of Iberostar Cuba, Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba, MINTUR and commercial partners, with presence in the media. on-line and offline, and aimed at the final consumer.
The participation of influencers specialized in music and dance is expected to take familiarization trips to destinations such as Varadero, Havana, Holguín, Cayo Coco, Cayo Cruz and Cayo Santa María.
The initiative also incorporates a social component by supporting the project Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba + Local Developmentwhich offers free dance workshops for children and adolescents, and wellness spaces for older adults, aimed at strengthening the Cuban social fabric.
Starting in November 2025 and scheduled to run until the end of 2026, the campaign will be reactivated during the 2026-2027 season, coinciding with the international tour of Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba.
“The Cuba we dream of”
During the presentation, Lizt Alfonso, director of the LADC company, commented on the origins of the project and the spirit that moves it.
“What we have today is not the Cuba we want, but we continue dreaming. That is the Cuba we dream of. And that is why it is forbidden to stop dreaming. That is why we have to continue working every day, because we cannot give up,” he said.
“We began to devise the entire ‘Feel its rhythms’ campaign and we thought that each one of us moves with a rhythm, each space in the city moves with a rhythm, each place in Cuba moves with a different rhythm. And we Cubans, before walking, dance and feel the music. Therefore, from there the idea of this campaign arose that goes from current to retro and even now we are going to continue and go further. But I leave that as a surprise because, of course, There is still a lot to do, but at least we have the first result, with which we are also very happy because I think it is a completely different campaign.”
For his part, Gabriel Dávalos, photographer and co-director of the advertising audiovisuals, in statements to OnCuba He also highlighted the decision to promote Cuba as a destination “only through the codes of dance.”
It means, he said, allowing “dance to take center stage and tell who we are, how we live, where we are and what we invite you to.”
“We also had the intention and the challenge of doing it with the fantasy of Lizt’s shows, her choreography, her music, the seal of her shows. We tried to use those sequence shots that have a cinematographic style. We wanted to make it a material that traveled to the past and also sneaked into the present and invited the future, through the costumes, the colors, the different Havanas that appear in the video.”
Iberostar, consolidated in Cuba
The Spanish chain Iberostar maintains a solid presence in Cuba with nearly 20 4 and 5 star hotels distributed in the main tourist destinations on the island. Its portfolio includes 4 hotels in the heart of Havana and 13 hotels on paradisiacal beaches of Varadero, Cayo Cruz, Cayo Ensenachos, Cayo Guillermo and Holguín, in addition to a boutique facility in Trinidad.
Among its most notable properties is the Iberostar Selection Havanathe tallest hotel in Cuba at 154 meters high and 594 rooms, which opened in early 2025. The 42-story tower represents one of the largest recent hotel investments in the country.
In Old Havana, Iberostar operates three emblematic establishments: the Iberostar Grand Packardlocated on Paseo del Prado and recognized on multiple occasions by TripAdvisor as one of the best hotels in the Caribbean; he Iberostar Selection Central Parkin front of the historic Central Park; and the Iberostar Marqués de la Torre.
In Cayo Ensenachos, where the chain has an exclusive presence, it operates two high-level hotels: the Iberostar Selection Ensenachoswith 460 rooms, designed for families and couples, and the Iberostar Coral Ensenachosreserved for adults, with 46 Garden Villas and personalized services.
Rekindle the arrival of tourists
The “Feel its rhythms” campaign is launched in the midst of the worst Cuban tourism crisis in decades. According to official data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), Between January and September, Cuba received 1,366,720 tourists.a 20.5% drop compared to the same period in 2024.
The most optimistic projections suggest that Cuba will close 2025 with around 1.8 million visitorswell below the government goal of 2.6 million and far from the 4.2 million that the country received in 2019, before the pandemic. The figure represents the worst result since official statistics exist, with the exception of the pandemic years.
The crisis is attributed to structural and cyclical factors: prolonged blackouts, shortages of basic supplies, reduction of international air routes, precarious tourism infrastructure and US sanctions. Hotel occupancy remains at minimum levels, close to 25% in the first half of the year.
Experts such as economist José Luis Perelló estimate that Cuba will not reach pre-pandemic tourism levels until 2030, configuring a “lost decade” for one of the main engines of the island economy.
In this challenging context, Iberostar’s commitment to strengthening its presence in Cuba and launching a cultural promotion campaign represents a vote of confidence in the destination’s potential, although the road to the sector’s recovery looks long and complex.
