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Cuba closed 2025 with the worst international hotel occupancy rate in its recent history: only 18.9%, compared to the 23.0% recorded in 2024, according to the ONEI report on tourism January-December 2025. In practical terms, more than eight out of ten hotel rooms remained vacant throughout the year.
The number of international visitors dropped from 2.2 million in 2024 to 1.81 million in 2025, a reduction of 17.8%, significantly below the official target of 2.6 million set by Cuban authorities. Overnight stays also decreased, from 12.8 million to 10.8 million, a decline of 15.3%. The tourism in Cuba plummeted in 2025 consistently throughout the year: in no month did the total exceed 83% of the 2024 level, with January and February being the worst months, showing declines of 24.4% and 33.3% respectively.
The traditional source markets experienced a widespread decline. England recorded the largest drop, with a 51.4% decrease in visitors, followed by Germany (-49.5%), Italy (-28.8%), Spain (-28.5%), and France (-26%). Russia, the regime's preferred ally, reduced its arrivals by 29%, totaling 131,882 tourists. The United States decreased from 142,450 to 110,005 visitors (-22.8%). Canada, the main market, contributed 754,010 tourists but also saw a 12.4% decline. The only market with significant growth was Argentina, which increased by 13.6% to nearly 49,500 visitors.
Especially revealing was the decline in visits from the Cuban community abroad: they fell by 22.6%, from 294,816 to 228,091 people, with Cubans residing in the United States dropping from 259,258 to 197,270 (-23.9%). When even the diaspora stops visiting the island, the message is unmistakable: the country is in a state that discourages even family visits.
The total revenue of tourism entities fell from 180.078 million to 173.078 million pesos (-3.9%), and revenue from accommodations plummeted by 9%, from 50.215 million to 45.686 million pesos. The hotel inventory also contracted: available room-nights decreased from 32 million to 31.4 million, indicating facilities out of service. This confirms what partial data had already indicated: the Cuban tourism records the worst year on record.
The collapse intensified in the early months of 2026. In January, Cuba received only 184,833 international visitors, which is 9% less than in January 2025, making it the January with the fewest tourists in at least 13 years, excluding the pandemic. The energy crisis exacerbated the situation: the interruption of Venezuelan crude oil supply led Cuban authorities to issue an international notice of a shortage of Jet A1 fuel at all its airports, lasting until April 10, 2026. There were over 1,700 canceled flights, Canada repatriated nearly 27,900 stranded tourists, and Russia evacuated about 4,300.
Chains like Meliá, Iberostar, NH, and Valentín temporarily closed several establishments. Among them is the Hotel Iberostar Torre K in Havana, whose closure was briefly justified as "due to the situation in the country." The Spanish hotel chains trapped in the Cuban collapse are facing increasing losses with no clear prospects for recovery.
The contrast with the global trend is striking. In 2025, global tourism reached a historic record of 1.520 million international arrivals, a 4% increase compared to 2024. The Dominican Republic welcomed in January 2026 six and a half times more tourists than Cuba, while Mexico finished 2025 with a historic high of 47.8 million visitors. Cuba, on the other hand, fell from 4.7 million visitors in 2018 to just 1.8 million in 2025, a decline of 61.7% over seven years.
The sector is dominated by GAESA, the military conglomerate of the Armed Forces, which, through its subsidiary Gaviota, controls 121 hotels and 20 marinas, with workers earning between 11 and 16 dollars a month. Between 2021 and 2023, the regime allocated 36% of all state investment —around 24.2 billion dollars— to build hotels, 14 times more than what was invested in health. All of this confirms what was already described in the analysis of the Cuban hotel mirage: billions invested without results. Economist Pedro Monreal summed it up succinctly: "Cuban tourism is struggling to recover."
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