More than 400 travel agents from Spain and Portugal will arrive in Cuba between September 12 and 19 as part of an ambitious tourism operation led by the company Ávoris Corporación Empresarial, in partnership with the state-owned Grupo de Turismo Gaviota and the Meliá hotel chain.
The initiative, framed within the VII Gaviota Tourism Fair, aims to bring European sellers closer to the Cuba product and rekindle interest in the island as a destination, as reported by the specialized site HostelTur.
The trip is part of a promotional campaign that includes direct charter flights operated by Iberojet from Madrid and Lisbon, along with accommodations at the luxurious Paradisus Los Cayos and Meliá Trinidad Península resorts.
The program will also offer catamaran sailing, hiking in Topes de Collantes, and visits to the colonial city of Trinidad, in an effort to provide an appealing sensory experience for those who will later need to sell it in their countries.
The optimism of the event contrasts with an alarming reality. Cuba lost nearly 30% of its international visitors during the first months of 2025, compared to the same period of the previous year.
The official figure published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) revealed that only 571,772 tourists arrived on the island between January and March, and many of them left feeling disappointed.
Canada, Russia, and Spain, the main sources of tourism to Cuba, have recorded declines of up to 50%. Not even Cubans living abroad traveled to the island as they used to, with only 59,896 visiting in the first quarter, well below last year's figure of over 75,000. In fact, many have shifted family reunions to destinations like the Dominican Republic.
The reasons are numerous, but well-known to all, ranging from power outages, food shortages, deterioration of hotel infrastructure, and poor customer service, exacerbated by a lack of basic supplies. Tourists complain, social media captures their grievances, and hotels that were once symbols of the Caribbean now barely get by.
“Selling Cuba has its rewards”: at what cost?
The call is part of a sales competition launched by Travelplan at the beginning of the year under the slogan “Selling Cuba has its rewards.” However, beyond the marketing, the question that lingers is whether such actions are sufficient to revive a sector on the brink of structural collapse.
The Cuban Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, has announced reforms to allow the use of foreign currencies and cards, as well as leasing facilities to foreign operators.
However, analysts warn that as long as economic restrictions, lack of transparency, and limited investment in basic infrastructure persist, Cuba will not be competitive against destinations like the Dominican Republic or Mexico, which offer a more stable and modern tourist experience.
From the United States, the signals are also not encouraging. The State Department recently warned that doing business in Cuba is a "high risk" due to the regime's structural corruption and its opaque economic model.
Although for many this operation represents an opportunity to highlight the destination of Cuba, it can also be interpreted as another desperate attempt to disguise a broken industry, where hotel investments are prioritized over essential sectors such as health and education.
Filed under:
