Havana/Cuba received a total of 1,629,787 international visitors between January and November, which represents a drop of close to 19% compared to the same period in 2024, according to data published this Wednesday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei).
In November alone, 151,895 international travelers arrived on the Island, one of the lowest monthly figures since 2021, when the covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of borders and almost completely paralyzed the sector.
According to Onei, Canada, the community of Cubans living abroad and Russia remained the main source markets for visitors, although all show declines compared to previous years. In the Russian case – boosted in 2023 and 2024 by bilateral agreements and subsidized charter flights – growth has stagnated, without compensating for the loss of other traditional European and Latin American markets.
The Government itself recognized the seriousness from the stage. During the most recent session of Parliament, held last week, the authorities admitted that tourism is going through a “complex situation” and that the official objectives for 2025 will not be met. The initial plan anticipated 2.6 million visitors, but the Minister of Economy, Joaquín Alonso, estimated that the year will close with around 1.9 million, just 73% of the planned goal.
Meanwhile, other destinations in the Caribbean and Central America are moving in the opposite direction.
Independent specialists and analysts agree that the weakness of the sector responds to a combination of structural factors: the deep economic and energy crisis, which affects the quality of services; prolonged blackouts, the deterioration of internal transportation and the shortage of basic supplies in hotels; the cutting of international air routes, especially from Europe; and the health crisis, which has forced several countries to issue alerts about the diseases that plague the Island.
Although tourism continues to be presented by the authorities as one of the pillars of economic recovery – due to its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and its ability to generate foreign currency – its real performance is far from fulfilling that role. In recent years, tourism income has not been able to compensate for the decline in other key sources, such as professional services, or the decline in remittances.
According to official figures, Cuba received 2.2 million visitors in 2024, 2.4 million in 2023 and 1.6 million in 2022, well below pre-pandemic levels. The contrast is even more marked if it is compared to the years of greatest prosperity: 4.6 million tourists in 2018 and 4.2 million in 2019, during the period of the so-called “thaw” with the United States and the flexibility of travel to the Island.
Meanwhile, other destinations in the Caribbean and Central America are moving in the opposite direction. Places such as Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, and Cancún, in Mexico, report historical records of visitors after the pandemic, supported by greater air connectivity, energy stability and more aggressive international promotion strategies.
The contrast highlights the growing isolation of the Cuban destination in an increasingly competitive regional tourism market, where recovery depends not only on the number of rooms available, but – increasingly – on the reliability of services, infrastructure and travelers’ perception of safety and quality.
