With this rhythm, Cuba will not be able to reach the goal of the regime of 2.6 million tourists in 2025; It will not even exceed 2.2 million last year.
Madrid, Spain.- Cuba received 1,123,987 international visitors between January and July 2025, representing a 23.2% drop compared to the same period of the previous year, according to official figures of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI). The collapse equals 338,922 tourists less and makes it practically impossible to reach the goal of the regime of 2.6 million visitors this year.
In July, 142,131 tourists arrived, a figure higher than May and June, but still below the records of the same month in the last three years. If the trend is maintained, the country will hardly exceed 2.2 million visitors reached in 2024, which was already the lowest figure in almost two decades outside the pandemic.
Main markets in setback
The greatest travelers to Cuba show strong declines compared to last year:
- Russia: –41.8%
- Germany: –39.3%
- Spain: –28%
- France: –25.5%
- Canada: –23.1%
- Cubans resident abroad: –21.5%
Only Argentina and Colombia registered slight increases in the number of visitors during the first half.
The Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, He recently recognized that “this has been the worst time since the collapse of the Twin Towers, in 2001, not counting the pandemic period.”
For his part, economist Pavel Vidal warned that 2025 could close with just 1.8 million tourists, which would make the current one the year of worst results since there are records.
Experts and independent media point to infrastructure and services problems that deteriorate the experience of visitors: airport tracks in poor condition, poor air conditioning, long waiting in migration and customs, as well as blackouts, shortage and insecurity.
To this situation are added the reduction of air routes and the growing regional competition. While Cuba goes back, close destinations such as Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) and Cancun (Mexico) Bate visitors records after the pandemic.
Tourism, one of the main sources of currency of the regime – along with the export of professionals and remittances – fails to take off in a context of growing internal uncertainty and international isolation.
