US Sanctions Drive Foreign Tourist Numbers in Cuba to Historic Lows
Quick Look
- Foreign tourist arrivals in Cuba have plummeted by 58.4% in the first five months of 2026 due to tightened US sanctions targeting the tourism sector.
- Airlines and hotel chains have suspended operations, impacting Canada, the largest source of tourists, and Spanish firms Meliá and Iberostar.
- The sanctions have also exacerbated shortages of fuel, medicine, and food, leading to economic paralysis and rare public protests.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
US sanctions have targeted Cuba's tourism sector, a vital income source, as part of a pressure campaign against the island's leadership. This has led to foreign airlines and hotel operators ceasing operations in Cuba.
The number of foreign travellers visiting Cuba has plummeted since the beginning of the year amid tightened US sanctions, figures released by Cuba's national statistics agency suggest.
Fewer than 360,000 people visited the Communist-run island in the first five months of 2026, a decrease of 58.4% compared to the same period last year, according to Onei.
The Trump administration has targeted the tourism sector, a key source of income for Cuba's beleaguered government, as part of its pressure campaign against the island's leadership.
As a result, a number of foreign airlines and hotel operators have stopped operating in Cuba, further driving down visitor numbers.
Earlier this month, Air Canada announced it was suspending its flights to Cuba indefinitely, citing the "ongoing political and economic uncertainty" as its reason.
The carrier had already stopped flying to the island in February because of a shortage of aviation fuel on the Caribbean island.
The move comes as a particular blow as Onei figures suggest visitors from Canada constituted by far the largest contingent of foreign tourists to Cuba this year.
Spanish hotel chains Meliá and Iberostar also halted their operations at a significant number of hotels ahead of a 5 June deadline set by the US government for companies to cease doing business with Cuban conglomerate Gaesa.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused Gaesa, which is controlled by Cuba's armed forces, of acting as a "state within a state".
In a speech delivered in Spanish and directly addressing the Cuban people, Rubio said Gaesa "hoards the profits from its businesses for the benefit of a small elite" as well as "repressing anyone who dares to complain".
US sanctions and an effective oil blockade have exacerbated already existing shortages of fuel, medicines and food in Cuba.
Cubadebate, a state-run news site, reported on Monday that the survival rate for children with cancer had fallen from 85% to 65% since January, when US President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on any country or company providing Cuba with oil.
The lack of fuel has paralysed large sectors of the economy, including rubbish collection, leading to piles of garbage piling up in city streets.
Frequent, lengthy and wide-spread power cuts have triggered rare protests on the island, where public dissent is often punished with long prison sentences.
AFP reported on Sunday that among the many items becoming scarce were communion wafers.
Several Catholic priests told the news agency they had been asked to ration the wafers, which are offered to the faithful as part of Mass.
The communion wafers are made in a monastery in the capital, Havana, where nuns are struggling to keep up production of the unleavened bread as their electricity supply is often restricted to two hours a day, it reported.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Further withdrawal of foreign businesses from Cuba.
Likely · Within months
Increased public dissent and protests in Cuba.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Will sanctions be further tightened or eased?
- What is the long-term economic outlook for Cuba?
- Will other countries intervene or offer aid?
