The tourist island of Cuba must face a drastic drop in the arrival of tourists, the country’s largest economy.
Despite the end of the pandemic, the island of Cuba is still struggling to regain flourishing tourism, vital for its economy. Operators of the tourist city of Trinidad who hope for a return of Russian visitors and the opening of new markets remain in the ‘expectant.
If we compare the current situation with the period before Covid, we have a drop of 25% in terms of occupancy,” confirms Yami Martinez, 48, owner of a nine-room guest house for ten years.
After the historic surge of 2018 (4.7 million tourists, $3.3 billion in revenue), in the wake of the diplomatic warming with the United States three years earlier, the hard blows followed one another for tourism Cuban: resurgence of American sanctions under Donald Trump (2017-2021), pandemic, then war in Ukraine, not to mention internal economic difficulties.
“It is very difficult with the problems of electricity and transport,” notes Ms. Martinez, in an allusion to the frequent power cuts which affect the country and the fuel shortages which have worsened recently, and does not spare always tourists.
Tourists are also subject to new visa restrictions following new US legislation stipulating that a passport with the Cuban visa would undergo a more thorough and longer examination to obtain a so-called “special” visa.
The lives of Cubans are also under severe strain. The government is announcing a fuel increase of more than 500% for this Friday while the prices of basic necessities are soaring day by day.
Since the pandemic, 500,000 Cubans have fled to the United States over a period of 24 months.
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The reference rate calculated by the BRH for this Friday March 1, 2024
