The hotels in Cuba recorded an occupancy rate of 18.9% in the first nine months of the year, according to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
The figure translates to four out of every five empty rooms in tourist facilities between January and September and reflects the drop in international visitors to the country, whose sector is considered the engine of the economy.
In fact, tourism revenue in the first nine months fell 12.1% annually. This decline is equivalent to 82.8 million Cuban pesos less, about 690 thousand dollars at the official exchange rate.
The arrival of tourists in that stage was 20.5% lower than in the same period in 2024, while the occupancy rate is 22.2% lower than that of January to September of the previous year.
1/2 The official tourism statistics January-September 2025 indicate the deep crisis of international tourism in Cuba. The very low average occupancy rate (18.9%) is approximately equivalent to operating with 4 empty rooms for every 5 existing pic.twitter.com/2kcEWSWOqp
— Pedro Monreal (@pmmonreal) November 20, 2025
Confirmed decline
The statistics published by the ONEI make it practically impossible to achieve the Government’s annual objective of adding 2.6 million visitors and make it very difficult for the year to close above the 2.2 million in 2024, which was already the worst mark in 17 years, not counting the two years most affected by COVID-19.
By country, Canada, Russia and the United States continued to be the three main markets for visitors by volume. Of the top 10 countries of origin, only Argentina increased the number of accumulated tourists so far this year: more than 7% in year-on-year terms.
Likewise, the number of Cubans residing abroad who travel to the island—which would be the second largest sending market—has fallen 20.7% year-on-year.
With almost 400 thousand fewer visitors until September, Cuban tourism remains in the red
The main factors of the weakness of the Cuban tourism sector are the serious economic and energy crisis that the country is suffering – which has an impact on services and experience -, the cutting of air routes and US sanctions.
Tourism is essential for the Government’s economic recovery plans, due to its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and the income it represents.
Cuba received 2.2 million international visitors in 2024, a total of 2.4 million in 2023 and 1.6 million in 2022, according to official data.
These figures are far from those registered in 2018 (4.6 million) and in 2019 (4.2 million), record figures linked to the “thaw” of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba in those years and the elimination of Washington restrictions on travel to the island.
