Cuba wants to recover the European market, mainly the Spanish one, to once again be a tourist attraction of reference in the Caribbean after several years of falls in the number of visitors it receives, as it has gone from 4.7 million in 2018 to around 1.8 million in 2025.
With that objective, he is attending the International Tourism Fair (Fitur) this year, which began this Wednesday in Madrid, according to what he told EFE the Cuban Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda.
Cuba “is an ideal island for tourism”, but “in recent times there have been some difficulties” and that “has given rise, mainly here in Spain, to all the news (about Cuba) really having a traumatic nuance,” said the minister about the current situation in the country, where the economic, energy, health, immigration, social and political crises overlap and feed back.
In the prelude to FITUR, the Secretary General of UN Tourism, Shaikha Al Nowais, held a cordial meeting with the Minister of Tourism of Cuba, @JuannCarlosGGin which they discussed global tourism priorities and international cooperation.#Tourism #Cuba pic.twitter.com/u7AAX3ez54
— Marcelino Medina (@MMedina_Glez) January 19, 2026
The weakness of the Cuban tourism sector, the island’s economic engine for years, has as its main factors the serious economic and energy crisis that the country is suffering – and which has an impact on services and experience -, the cutting of air routes and US sanctions.
“We were always a highly selected and preferred destination by the Spanish, and in general by almost all of Europe collectively,” García recalled.
“We intend to work very hard to recover” that market, he stressed, highlighting that “Cuba reinvents itself every day” and that “security” is one of its main assets compared to other American countries.
Regarding the serious crisis of blackouts that the island has suffered since August 2024 and how it affects the sector, the minister stated that “international tourism emerged in Cuba in a stage that is known as a special period of greater shortages than those we have now” and since then it has had its own infrastructure to not depend on the national electrical energy system.
The large tourist centers such as Cayo Coco or Cayo Largo “have their own electricity generation,” he noted.
In addition, he indicated that Cuba is working on the development of solar energy, with the installation of photovoltaic parks throughout the island.
Likewise, García explained the efforts to achieve an increase in air connectivity with Europe, so that there are “more options to fly” to Cuba.
The minister acknowledged that last year “the results of the sector were not good”, which is essential for the Government’s economic recovery plans due to its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and the inflow of foreign currency it represents.
Until November, Cuba received about 19% fewer tourists than in the same period in 2024
The US sanctions are part of the campaign “to destroy tourism” in Cuba, according to García, who gave as an example measures taken by Donald Trump’s Government such as the elimination of cruise ships, which has meant losing “800,000 Americans who visited the island in 72 hours.”
Compared to the rest of the destinations in the Caribbean, due to the US blockade “we always compete in a much more complex scenario,” the minister concluded.
