A five-star hotel with more than 400 rooms began to receive its first clients in Varadero, after an agreement between the Gaviota Tourism Group and the Italian chain Domina Hotels Group, at the end of the year with the worst number of visitors in 22 years without counting the pandemic.
The Domina Marina Varadero, whose marketing has already begun through international travel agencies, marks the entry of Domina Hotels Group into the Caribbean and makes Cuba its first destination in Latin America, according to a report from Trade Travel Caribbean (TTC).
Located within an ecological reserve and about 300 meters from the beach, the complex is 40 minutes from Varadero International Airport and offers views of the Gaviota Varadero Marina and the Hicacos Peninsula.
The hotel has four swimming pools, a spa, a gym, a tennis court, a kids’ club, a convention center with eight rooms and spaces designed for weddings and events.
One of its main attributes is the integration with a large-scale sports marina, with capacity for about 1,200 boats and 13 docking pontoons, accompanied by a commercial promenade.
This combination, unusual in the destination, seeks to attract both sun and beach tourists as well as boaters, divers and fishing enthusiasts.
The agreement with Domina Hotels Group is part of Gaviota’s strategy to recover the Italian market, which for years was among the main sources of tourism to Cuba.
In 2018, the country received more than 177 thousand visitors from Italy, and between 2022 and 2023 a gradual recovery was observed, supported by the increase in flights operated by the Neos airline.
According to TTC, The Italian tourist is valued for his interest in culture, history and diversity of experiences, with stays that usually include several destinations in the country, which favors circuits to heritage and natural areas such as Viñales, Trinidad and Cienfuegos.
Domina Hotels Group manages more than 40 facilities in Europe and Africa, with a presence in cities of high cultural value such as Rome, Budapest and Tallinn, as well as in established tourist destinations such as Sharm El Sheikh.
25 percentage points below target
Its arrival on the island reinforces the commitment to international management standards and expands the high-segment offering in Varadero, at a time when, according to the Government, Cuban tourism is going through a “complex situation” and will not meet its forecasts for income and international visitors for the year by about 25 percentage points in each case.
Tourism remains about 25 percentage points below the government objective for the year
The Minister of Economy and Planning, Joaquín Alonso, took stock of the situation of the former engine of the national economy when speaking before the plenary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP).
According to its department’s calculations, income will reach $917.4 million in 2025, 75.8% of what was expected, and the number of visitors will be around 1.9 million people, 73.1% of the state estimate for the entire year.
If confirmed, this number of travelers would be the worst annual record in the Cuban tourism sector since 2003, not counting the three years most affected by covid-19. In comparison, the island attracted about 4.6 and 4.7 million visitors in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The State Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently reported that between January and October the country received a total of 1,477,892 international visitors, 19.9% less than in the same period in 2024.
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.
