MIAMI, United States. – Cuba received 1,719,145 international travelers between January and September of this year, which represents a decrease of 5.2% compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data published this Tuesday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
This decline takes the country away from its official goal of reaching 2.7 million visitors in 2024.
In September, 111,067 international tourists arrived on the island, a figure similar to that of the same month in 2022, but lower than that registered in previous months of this year. The monthly figures started at levels comparable to those of 2023, but have been progressively losing ground.
The main sending market continues to be Canada, with 695,567 visitors, followed by Russia (141,615), the United States (110,538), Spain (50,498), Mexico (48,112) and Germany (47,324).
Of these six countries, only Russia and Mexico show an increase in the number of tourists, with increases of 12% and 5%, respectively. In contrast, Canada, the United States, Spain and Germany experienced declines ranging between 2% and 17%.
In addition, a 16.9% contraction was recorded in visits from Cubans residing abroad. This trend has shown an upward trend so far this year, according to the ONEI.
The weakness of the tourism sector, the traditional economic engine of the Island, is fundamentally attributed to the serious economic crisis that the country is going through. “Tourism is fundamental to the Government’s plans, due to its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and the inflow of foreign currency it represents,” according to the news agency. EFE.
To reach the proposed goal, Cuba would need to receive a monthly average of almost 273,000 tourists, a figure that was only exceeded in March during the high season. In 2023, the country received 2.4 million international visitors and 1.6 million in 2022. These figures are far from the 4.2 million and 4.6 million tourists who arrived in 2019 and 2018, respectively, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The current situation contrasts with that of other Caribbean destinations such as Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, and Cancún, in Mexico, which are registering historic highs in visitors after the pandemic.
