Joan Trian Riu, board advisor of Riu Hotels & Resorts, issued a warning this week to Caribbean tourist destinations: Cuba, although currently "out of the game," will once again compete for international travelers.
The statements, collected in an exclusive interview with the Dominican media Arecoa.com, present a warning for a sector that has seen Cuba losing ground while other Caribbean destinations attract more visitors.
The executive, who represents the fourth generation of the founding family of the chain with the largest number of rooms in Cancun, was straightforward in listing the competitors of the Dominican Republic in the regional market: Mexico, Jamaica, the smaller Caribbean islands, and, on the horizon, Cuba.
"Cuba is also there... we'll see what happens with Cuba, we don't know right now because it's out of the game, but at some point, it will resume tourism," stated Trian Riu.
The collapse of the Cuban tourism sector
Between January and September 2026, the island received only 477,707 international visitors, a decline of 65.1% compared to the same period the previous year. In July, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz acknowledged that 73% of the country's hotels were closed and that around 25,000 workers were without regular employment.
The collapse accelerated following a series of U.S. sanctions. Executive Order 14404, signed by Trump on May 1, 2026, struck entities linked to GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls much of Cuba's tourism infrastructure.
Weeks later, on July 13, Washington directly sanctioned the Ministry of Tourism of the island. In response to the pressure from secondary sanctions, the major international chains abandoned their hotels in Cuba: Iberostar on July 21, Meliá on July 24, and Barceló shortly thereafter.
While Cuba stagnates, other destinations are strengthening
The Dominican Republic welcomed more than 8.5 million visitors between January and August 2026, a growth of 6.9% compared to the same period the previous year.
The figure includes 6.61 million tourists arriving by air and 1.95 million cruise passengers. Punta Cana reached a hotel occupancy rate of 88.2% during the first half of 2026. Riu operates five hotels in that area with more than 4,500 rooms and a staff of over 3,800 workers.
Trian Riu acknowledged that part of that influx is indeed due to external issues: "Surely some of those visitors have chosen the Dominican Republic because of the less favorable situations in other Caribbean destinations."
However, the executive warned that this advantage is not permanent and conditioned the future of the Dominican Republic on concrete improvements.
"The future of the Dominican Republic is bright, but there must be a commitment to quality, cleanliness, safety, and infrastructure," he noted.
Cuba reached 4.7 million tourists in 2018, its all-time high. It ended 2025 with just 1.81 million, the lowest level in over two decades aside from the pandemic. In 2026, the decline deepened to unprecedented levels.
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