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Hotel executives from the Varadero tourist area publicly declared, during the closing of FitCuba 2026, that they maintain contact and address the needs of workers sent home due to the collapse of hotel occupancy in Cuba, as reported by the state-run Canal Caribe this Saturday.
The statements contrast with the magnitude of the crisis: at the Paradisus Varadero, out of a staff of 886 workers, today more than half are without active employment.
At the Gran Astro hotel, over 300 employees are in a state of "interruptos," with some reassigned and others directly at home.
"We started from the fact that occupancy has dropped sharply; we have never had this level of occupancy, and more than 300 workers are at home, disrupted, some have been relocated for now, but far from the Gran Astro family," stated an executive of the Gran Astro hotel before the cameras of the state channel.
The manager of Paradisus Varadero described the follow-up actions that he claims to carry out: "We have scheduled meetings with the workers specifically in Matanzas, in Cárdenas, with the interruptus, who cannot come to work but we are going to see them, to understand their needs, we set up the sales points for them, we prepare the modules, any extraordinary needs, this manager and the entire hotel are focused on helping that worker, which is the most important thing."
The official discourse on caring for "human capital" comes at the worst time for Cuban tourism in over two decades. The collapse of tourism in Cuba has left around 300,000 people linked to the sector without jobs, income, or access to basic food.
In the first quarter of 2026, Cuba received only 298,057 international visitors, a drop of 48% compared to the same period in 2025. Hotel occupancy in Varadero and Havana is around 20-21%, with over 80% of the rooms vacant.
The collapse accelerated following the "hotel consolidation" strategy that the regime implemented starting February 7, closing facilities with low occupancy to reduce energy consumption. Grupo Gaviota closed 20 hotels in Cayo Santa María in February, leaving over 7,000 workers suddenly without salary protection.
The government even proposed relocating tourism workers to garbage collection or agricultural tasks, which generated widespread outrage. Hotels in Varadero began to offer urgent discounts of up to 30% amid the collapse, without managing to reverse the decline.
In this context, Cuba inaugurated the international tourism fair FitCuba 2026 in a hybrid format from May 7 to 9 at the Josone Retiro Park in Varadero, with more than 1,000 professionals from dozens of countries.
The Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, closed it by stating that it was "a platform of opportunities" where "alliances that transcend borders" were built, while the hotel executives themselves acknowledged on camera that more than half of their staff remain at home without work.
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