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Canadian tourists who have returned from Cuba in recent days claim that, beyond the interrupted vacations, what impacted them the most was the anxiety of the tourism workers, who fear losing their jobs due to the fuel crisis affecting the island.
The Canadian newspaper Calgary Herald published a report featuring accounts from travelers caught off guard by the suspension of flights and the closing of tourist facilities. A tourist from Calgary, Ashley Cardinal, shared that local employees were "scared of what’s to come" and worried because the cancellations "are seriously harming them," as they depend on tourism to survive.
According to what he said, before leaving, he decided to give the remaining Cuban money to some local workers, aware that their immediate future is uncertain.
The magnitude of the exodus has also been reflected in a report from the Toronto Star, which indicates that Air Canada had about 3,000 customers in Cuba and Air Transat had more than 6,500, while airlines were sending empty planes to repatriate passengers due to a warning that aviation fuel would no longer be available at Cuban airports.
In that same report, a tourist in Varadero recounted that the process at the airport became chaotic because power outages caused the computers to restart every few minutes. Another traveler expressed feeling "a sadness in the air" and mentioned that she avoided discussing the topic with hotel employees because they would suffer the impact "much more" than the tourists.
A similar testimony was shared by CityNews, where a group of five women from Edmonton reported that, after learning about the cancellations, they tried to find information without success. One of them stated that hotel staff told them they had been without electricity in their homes for two weeks, and many did not know "what is going to happen to them" or "if they will have jobs" in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has raised its travel advisory level and is urging citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Cuba, advising them to leave the island while flights are still available, according to a report by The Canadian Press.
On social media, numerous users expressed concern about the situation of Cubans, recalling that tourists can be relocated or receive refunds, but local workers face the direct hit: job loss, blackouts, and a crisis that threatens to worsen.
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