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Cuba received only 298,057 international visitors in the first quarter of 2026, representing 52% of the level recorded during the same period the previous year, according to official data published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) this Monday.
In terms of total travelers —including nationals and residents abroad— the island welcomed 448,857 people from January to March, only 59% compared to the same period in 2025, which equates to 312,375 fewer travelers.
The decline affects nearly all source markets without exception.
Canada, Cuba's main tourist market, recorded only 124,794 visitors in the quarter, a decline of 54.2% compared to the 272,319 who arrived in the same period of 2025.
The United States declined even further: from 39,465 visitors to just 17,034, a contraction of 56.8%.
France saw a decline of 54.4%, from 14,748 to 6,725 visitors, while Spain and Italy experienced a drop of around 40%.
The Cuban community abroad also reduced its trips to the island: from 59,826 people to 34,233, a decline of 42.8%.
Russia, another significant market for Cuban tourism, saw a decrease from 33,463 to 20,917 visitors, a drop of 37.5%.
The only exceptions were Argentina, which remained practically stable with 12,212 visitors (99.5% compared to 2025), and China, which only saw a decrease of 5.7%.
Behind the collapse are structural causes that became acutely exacerbated at the beginning of the year.
In February, the shortage of Jet A-1 fuel at nine Cuban international airports led to the cancellation of over 1,700 flights and the forced repatriation of more than 27,900 Canadian tourists and 4,300 Russians.
As a direct consequence, eleven airlines suspended their operations to Cuba in 2026, including Air Canada —which will not resume flights until November—, Air Transat, WestJet, Sunwing, Iberia, Air France, and Turkish Airlines.
The hotel sector also feels the impact.
The Meliá, NH, Iberostar, and Valentín hotel chains temporarily closed their facilities, and in Cayo Santa María, the military conglomerate Gaviota closed 20 hotels, leaving over 7,000 workers in the sector unemployed.
The regime responded with a "tourism compacting" strategy starting on February 7, which involves closing hotels with low occupancy and relocating tourists to concentrated facilities to reduce energy consumption.
The hotel occupancy rate fell to 21.5% so far in 2026.
This collapse is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather a deepening of a long-term trend: Cuban tourism is sinking while the rest of the world is growing, with the Dominican Republic receiving 6.5 times more tourists than Cuba in January 2026 and Mexico closing 2025 with a world record of 47.8 million visitors.
Cuba closed 2025 with only 1.81 million tourists, a 17.8% decrease compared to 2024 and 62% below the historical record of 4.7 million reached in 2018, before the chronic energy crisis and infrastructure deterioration completely sank one of the few sectors that generated foreign currency for the regime.
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