Cuba received a total of 2.2 million in 2024 tourists9.6 % less than the previous year and the worst figure in 17 years without counting the years of the Covid-19 Pandemia, the National Information and Statistics Office (Onei) reported Tuesday.
The number is significantly lower than the initial objective of the Cuban government of 3.2 million international visitors, which was subsequently reduced to 2.7 million.
In the set of 2024, according to ONEI datathe first issuing market was – as is traditional – Canada, with 860 877 people, followed by Russia (185 816), United States (142 450), Germany (65 487), Spain (65 054) and Mexico (62 839) .
Among the nine main issuers, only two countries, Russia and Mexico, registered a slight increase in visitors with respect to 2023. The others ended with declines, some notable such as the falls of 27.1 % of Spain and 15.9 % of Italy.
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The 17.8 % contraction in the visits of Cubans residing abroad was also significant.
The monthly international arrivals figures began the year in figures similar to those of last year, but over the months they were giving land in the comparison.
The weakness of the Cuban tourism sector, for years the economic engine of the island, is related, among other factors, to the serious economic and energy crisis that the country suffers and with the US sanctions (Washington does not grant fast visas is to travelers who have Visited Cuba in the previous ten years).
Tourism is essential for the stabilization plans of the Cuban government, for its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and by the entry of currencies that it supposes, being traditionally only behind professional services and remittances.
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Cuba received 2.4 million international visitors in 2023 and 1.6 million in 2022, according to official data. These figures are far from those of 2019 (4.2 million) and 2018 (4.6 million), the two years prior to COVID-19.
You have to go back to 2007 in the ONEI records to find annual figures below 2024, excluding the 2020-2022 period due to the negative influence on the international tourism of Pandemia.
At present, the situation of tourism on the island contrasts with that of similar destinations in the Caribbean region, such as Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) and Cancun (Mexico), which are registering historical visitors.
According to the United Nations Specialized Agency, UN Tourism, the volume of international travelers recovered in 2024 the numbers prior to the pandemic, with 1400 million registered arrivals.
