in Cuba, tourists are conspicuous by their absence

“Evidently tourism is down. There are many fewer tourists. And you also have to take into account the airlinessince some have already said that they are going to have to refuel in the Dominican Republic. At the moment, there have been no cancellations from Spain, but flights have been canceled from other countries, Canada and Peru, for example. Until this month, we in Spain have been able to guarantee fuel. But starting next month we will probably stop traveling to Cuba because we don’t know how it will happen with the new fuel limitations. In any case, reality is starting to become more complicated and from a certain point on we are going to have to stop offering trips to Cuba,” explains Pérez.

The crisis in tourism has affected numerous unions in Cuba. Collateral damage is felt in restaurants, shops and transportation. Yan Manuel Carrio has spent practically his entire life working as a driver in a taxi that operates from Havana.

“This situation is very difficult, especially complicated for people in the city. For people who live in the neighborhoods, transportation is like a ghost. You see it and you don’t see it. You can wait three or four hours and you don’t see a transportand. Gasoline is available for taxis, but they resell it to you for 4,000 or 4,500 pesos per liter. Normally the price for that was 600 pesos. There you can notice the difference. We have had many cancellations from tourists from Canada, the United Kingdom, Argentina. Before we made three, four trips to Varadero per day. Now it becomes one. It’s a little hard because not everyone can work like that,” he says.

Cuba received barely 1.8 million tourists in 2025one of the lowest levels in decades. The fuel shortage and the cancellation of international flights open the question of how the sector will evolve during this year, which already presents the worst figures of all time.

“There are days when I spend hours without a service”said Ramón, a 52-year-old taxi driver from Havana, who stated that he sees fewer customers and has great difficulty getting gas.

Cuba needs to import fuels because it lacks sufficient production and refining capacity to cover domestic demand and now those operations are almost stopped by the executive order signed by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, on January 29, that threatens to apply tariffs to countries that trade oil with the island.

As a result of the lack of fuel, several airlines have stopped or adjusted their operations, such as LATAM Airlines, from Chile, and the Russians Rossiya and Nordwind, which canceled their routes, while Air Canada suspended flights, and others such as Air France, Iberia and Air Europa maintain connections, but make technical stops in third countries to refuel.

According to Cuban economist and researcher José Luis Perelló, the suspensions directly impact the arrival of international visitors to Cuba and Cancellations of flights from Canada are especially sensitive.

“Although this market contributed 42 percent of international arrivals in 2025, the current situation has led operators and agencies to cancel packages to the island in the middle of the high season,” he explained.

Perelló pointed out that the energy shortage also compromises internal transfers and the operation of hotel facilities that depend on generator sets for energy generation, which is why several complexes in the most important tourist centers of the country have temporarily closed and others have reduced services due to lack of supplies.

Luis, a Colombian tourist, commented that he had to adjust his travel itinerary due to fuel problems and, although he wanted to stay in a hotel in the town of Trinidad, in the central province of Sancti Spíritus, he had to stay in Havana, after being informed that the Trinidad facility had temporarily closed.

“Cuba enjoys tourist attractions: culture, history, beaches and nature (and) at its best, The sector represented around 10 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and generated, for example, 3.3 billion dollars in 2017 from overnight stays,” explained Professor Perelló.

According to the academic, in that same year, more than 100,000 direct jobs and nearly 500,000 linked jobsdepended on that activity, which also provided liquidity for imports and investments.

However, he assured, Cuban tourism has been in decline since 2018 and now energy restrictions are bringing it closer to a breaking point.

“If the industry dries up, it will be a serious blow to the national economy,” said Perelló, who was an advisor to the Ministry of Tourism.

Uncertainty also surrounds the holding of the International Tourism Fair, scheduled for May in the resort of Varadero, located about 150 kilometers east of Havana.