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The pressure from the Trump administration on the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA is causing a mass exodus of foreign hotel chains from the island and opening the door for a potential entry of American companies into the Cuban tourism sector, according to an analysis published by El Periódico.
Washington gave a deadline until June 5 to foreign companies to cease operations with GAESA and its subsidiaries —including Gaviota, the regime's tourism arm— under the threat of secondary sanctions.
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the scope of the conglomerate on May 20: "Cuba is controlled by GAESA, a state within the state."
He added that the company, founded 30 years ago by Raúl Castro and owned by the Armed Forces, "has 18 billion dollars in assets and controls 70% of the Cuban economy."
Tourism is the most lucrative business on the island, and several large American companies are identified as potential operators in Cuba if the situation changes.
The identified hotels are:
- Marriott, que ya administró el Four Points by Sheraton en La Habana desde 2016 —siendo el primer hotel gestionado por una firma de EE.UU. en la isla desde 1959— hasta que el The Treasury Department revoked its license en junio de 2020.
- Hilton, with a historical presence before the 1959 revolution: the Habana Hilton was taken over by the government of Fidel Castro.
- Hyatt, Wyndham, Choice Hotels, and Best Western, with financial strength and millions of potential customers within a short flight distance.
In addition to the hotel companies, other American tourist enterprises that could re-enter the Cuban market with renewed strength are also mentioned. These include airlines American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as well as digital platforms Airbnb and Expedia.
The void left by the European chains is significant. Iberostar has ceased management of 12 hotels in Cuba as of this Monday, and the Canadian hotelier Blue Diamond Resorts announced its immediate withdrawal last Sunday.
Meliá, the most established Spanish hotel chain on the island with 34 hotels and 14,053 rooms, has already closed approximately 50% of its operational capacity in the first quarter of 2026. In its results presentation on May 7, the company warned: "In Cuba, the level of uncertainty remains high."
The Mallorca-based company detailed that the lack of aviation fuel "caused the cancellation of numerous direct flights to the country, even from its main source market, Canada," and that "domestic tourism has become the vast majority of bookings for the hotels still open," although this market "is not enough to compensate for the decline in international demand."
In total, there are more than 100 hotel management contracts in Cuba managed by about twenty foreign chains, of which ten are Spanish: Meliá, Iberostar, Be Live, Roc, Barceló, Valentín, NH, Blau, Axel, and Sirenis.
The president of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer, acknowledged in a recent meeting with the media that the situation in Cuba is "unsustainable," while the Spanish government claims to maintain "ongoing contact with some of the potentially affected companies, to understand their specific situation, identify possible risks, and assist them in scenario assessment."
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