The camping site Punta de Ganado, located at Santa Lucía beach in the municipality of Nuevitas, Camagüey, was leased in mid-October to a private company, becoming one of the first camping sites to transition to non-state management, according to a report by Amado Viera in Havana Times.
The Popular Camping Business Group did not issue any statement regarding the transfer. However, an employee from the Camagüey branch confirmed that the goal is to transfer the management of the seven camping bases in the province to private management before the end of 2027.
The impact on prices was immediate. With the private renter in charge, round-trip transportation from the city of Camagüey ranges between 5,000 and 6,500 pesos per person, depending on the private carrier hired.
Now the entrance fee is 500 pesos per adult and 300 pesos per child. The cabins are still pending repair, so accommodation is not part of the current offering.
The VIP area costs an additional 5,000 pesos, and the restaurant menus start at that same price. Additionally, it is prohibited to bring your own food or beverages into the venue.
A resident of Camagüey who attended the reopening party described the experience bluntly: the food seemed just as expensive as in the most exclusive private restaurants in the city. The beach, the main reason for the trip, was not as clean as advertised. Only the VIP area appeared to have been well maintained, but not all customers had access to it.
In response to the criticisms, Carlos René Soriano, director of the Camagüey branch of Campismo Popular, defended the additional charge for the VIP area, pointing out that it includes personalized service, with an attendant who brings clients what they request; a lounge chair, a table, and four chairs; and access to one of the cleanest beaches in the recreational area.
He also mentioned the price of the menus and closed the debate with a phrase: "Now an onion costs 300 pesos."
The contrast with the actual income of Cubans is striking. According to the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), the average salary in the business and state budgeted system was around 7,354 pesos per month in August 2026, equivalent to about nine dollars at the informal exchange rate recorded in October.
Behind the leasing is also the financial deterioration of Campismo Popular. The economist Yasmani Rabelo, former accountant for the entity in Camagüey, explained the mechanism.
Rabelo noted that as the peso continued to lose value, a widening gap developed between the official and informal exchange rates. Campismo Popular and other similar companies did not raise their rates to the same extent and began to incur losses, to the point where they could not cover the low wages of their workers.
The collapse of international tourism in Cuba
Cuba lost 65% of its international visitors between January and September 2026, with only 477,707 arrivals, compared to the same period in 2025. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz acknowledged in July that 73% of hotel facilities remained closed and about 25,000 workers in the sector were on standby.
In this context, the regime promoted measures in 2026 to increase private participation in the economy: the package of 176 economic transformations launched in June, the Decree 160 effective since August, which regulates the activities of non-state economic actors, and the opening to investors, including emigrants.
In Cienfuegos, the Tourism Real Estate Company offered for lease seven unused facilities to small and medium-sized enterprises and Cubans residing abroad. The State retains ownership of the properties and only transfers management.
What for decades was a summer option within reach of the Cuban worker —camping with subsidized rates in pesos— is now becoming a destination with private prices, hardly accessible for those who depend on a state salary.
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