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Russian tourism in Cuba has fallen to almost nonexistent levels. According to data from the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) and the booking platform Sletat, in March 2026, only 249 Russian tourists traveled to the island, marking an unprecedented collapse for what was the country's second most important source market.
The collapse has a direct cause: the aviation fuel crisis that erupted in February when the Cuban regime informed international airlines that it could not guarantee the supply of kerosene at nine airports.
Russian airlines Rossiya and Nordwind suspended their flights to Cuba immediately on February 11 and between the 13th and the 22nd of that month, they conducted nine repatriation flights to evacuate nearly 4,300 stranded tourists from Varadero, Havana, Holguín, and Cayo Coco.
In February, before the evacuation, 7,314 Russian tourists had arrived in Cuba. The contrast with March—only 249—illustrates the magnitude of the downturn.
The impact on the preferences of Russian travelers has been immediate and profound. Cuba has disappeared from the top 10 favorite destinations for Russians in 2026, whereas in May 2025 it was still on that list with a 1.6% share. The destinations that have captured that influx are now Egypt, Vietnam, and China.
The Russian Ministry of Transport has conditioned any resumption of flights on "the normalization of aviation fuel supplies to Cuba," a requirement that has not yet been met.
The Russian debacle is not an isolated case. Eleven airlines have suspended their flights to Cuba so far in 2026, while only eight are maintaining their routes. From Canada —the island's main tourist market— four companies have canceled their operations: Air Canada and Sunwing until October, WestJet with no defined date, and Air Transat potentially resuming in June.
The result is a widespread downturn in the sector. Tourism in Cuba collapsed to 52% of the level from the previous year in the first quarter of 2026, with only 298,057 international visitors. In March, total arrivals dropped to just 35,561 tourists, compared to approximately 170,000 in the same month of 2025.
Hotel occupancy plummeted to 18.9% in the first two months of the year, forcing hotels to drastically reduce prices or close and leaving hundreds of thousands of workers in the sector unemployed.
The deterioration of Cuba's image as a destination began earlier. Russian tourists started leaving the island three days after their arrival back in January, reporting blackouts, water shortages, food scarcity, and a general decline in hotel services.
The internal political landscape further exacerbates the situation. The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts (OCC) recorded 1,133 protests in April 2026, a 29.5% increase compared to the same month in 2025, amidst a context of intensified repression and an official campaign that demanded citizens to sign a loyalty document to the regime.
In 2025, Russia was the second largest source market for tourists to Cuba, with 131,882 visitors. At this rate, 2026 is set to be the year when that flow decreases to a marginal figure, with no signs of short-term recovery in sight.
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