Cuba’s tourism industry is facing a severe contraction, with international arrivals falling 62% in the first seven months of 2026 as fuel shortages, flight suspensions, hotel closures and tighter US sanctions disrupt an industry that has long been a major source of foreign currency. Cuba received 419,000 international visitors between January and July, compared with 1.1 million in the same period of 2025, according to official figures cited by the Associated Press. The fall comes after an already weak 2025, when Cuba recorded about 1.81 million international tourists, its lowest annual figure since 2002.

The scale of the decline is increasingly visible in Havana and other established tourism centres. A Reuters report from June found foreign visitors increasingly scarce at Old Havana’s main attractions, while operators were dealing with fuel shortages and a deteriorating business environment.

Fuel shortage reshapes tourism operations

The immediate challenge for the tourism industry is fuel. Cuba has struggled to secure adequate supplies for aviation and domestic transport, forcing airlines to reduce or suspend services. The disruption has made it harder for tour operators to maintain programmes and for hotels to manage transfers, supplies and day-to-day operations.

Airlines including World2Fly, Air France, Turkish Airlines and Iberia suspended flights after Cuba said aircraft could no longer refuel on the island.  The energy crisis extends beyond aviation. Cuba has experienced repeated nationwide power failures, with the latest major grid collapse reported by Reuters in September. For hotels and resorts, unreliable electricity adds another operational constraint at a time when international demand is already weak.

The result is a tourism market in which air access, hotel availability and ground operations can no longer be considered separately.

Hotel capacity under pressure

Hotel closures have become another defining feature of the crisis. In July, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said around 73% of hotels had closed and that seven international chains, accounting for about half of the island’s hotel rooms, had left the market. Tourism had previously been Cuba’s second-largest source of foreign-currency earnings and supported more than 300,000 jobs. The withdrawal of international operators is significant. Spanish groups such as Meliá and Iberostar have been major players in Cuba for more than three decades, particularly in resort destinations including Varadero, Cayo Santa María and Jardines del Rey.

In June, The Independent reported that Meliá was significantly reducing its Cuban operations, while other major brands including Iberostar and Royalton were also limiting or suspending operations. For the travel trade, that creates a more complicated product environment. Tour operators are not simply dealing with fewer rooms. They have to assess whether contracted hotels remain operational, whether flights are running, whether transfers can be supplied and what payment facilities are available to overseas travellers.

Canada takes a major hit

Cuba’s biggest traditional source market has also weakened sharply. Canadian arrivals fell 73.3% in the first seven months of 2026, from 478,382 to 127,645, according to figures from Cuba’s National Office of Statistics. The decline from Canada alone accounts for nearly half of Cuba’s overall loss of international visitors during the period. Arrivals from Russia fell 70.4%, while US visitors dropped 51.7%. That leaves Cuba with few major markets showing resilience.

What happens next

The tourism downturn is taking place against a much longer decline. Cuba attracted around 4.3 million international tourists in 2019, before the pandemic and subsequent economic and operational pressures reshaped the market. Tourism revenues had been worth roughly US$3 billion a year. The immediate priority for the industry is therefore not simply rebuilding demand. Cuba needs reliable aviation fuel, functioning hotels, stable electricity and dependable international payment channels if it is to restore the confidence of airlines, hotel companies and overseas operators.

Until those conditions improve, the island’s tourism proposition remains constrained by the infrastructure needed to deliver it.