The Cuban regime has been the target of criticism for prioritizing the tourism sector instead of investing in sectors such as Health and Education.
MIAMI, United States. – The Minister of Economy and Planning of Cuba, Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, recognized last week before the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) that tourism will close 2025 below its official projections of visitors and income, but that “tourism development and continuity investments to complete hotel facilities” will remain a priority for 2026.
According to the calculations presented in Parliament, tourist income would reach “about 917.4 million dollars” as of December 31, equivalent to 75.8% of what was expected, while foreign visitors would be around “1.9 million”, 73.1% of the state estimate for the year (2.6 million).
This balance confirms that the sector, a traditional engine of foreign currency inflow, not only fails to meet the Government’s own goals, but is still far from supporting, on its own, a macroeconomic recovery in a context of structural scarcity and deterioration of basic services.
Even so, Alonso Vázquez maintained that the economy could grow 1% in 2026 and linked it, in part, to a presumed recovery in tourism. “This growth is mainly based on the recovery projections of tourism and export entities, the revival of productive and service activities, and the operation of the approved self-financing schemes, among other factors. To achieve this discrete growth, the implementation of the measures contained in the government program will be crucial,” he stated.
In the official summary published by the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), this investment continuity is listed among the “key programs” for 2026.
The Cuban regime has been the target of criticism for prioritizing the tourism sector – despite the drop in the number of foreign visitors – instead of investing in sectors such as Health and Education.
This month, the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) even reacted to criticism and ridicule for the promotion of the Torre K hotel in Havana. “It is unfair that a publication becomes a target of ridicule and disqualification that ends up attacking not only an institution, but principles that are part of our identity as Cubans. Our country has always opted for the development of tourism as a legitimate way to sustain the national economy, in the midst of blockades, discredit campaigns and difficulties that are not new nor did they arise out of nowhere,” the organization published on its Facebook page.
This response, focused on the “legitimacy” of tourism as a lifeline, contrasts with the magnitude of the official non-compliance of 2025 and raises the underlying question again: if the State itself admits that tourism is not raising its head, why is the completion of new hotel capacities preserved as a priority in the face of other productive and social emergencies.
Added to this fragility is an external energy risk that also affects the viability of tourism and the economy in general. Cuba depends on Venezuelan crude oil and derivatives transported by small boats and a “ghost fleet” of sanctioned tankersand that the seizure by the United States of a ship with Venezuelan crude oil could result in more supply interruptions, worsening blackouts and affecting economic activity.
In this context, the official insistence on concluding hotels is based on two assumptions that today appear weak with the Government’s own data: that tourism will rebound enough to generate foreign currency and that there will be stable energy and logistics to operate and attract visitors.
