Overview
- Official data from Cuba’s ONEI show international arrivals fell about 18% year over year to roughly 1.8 million in 2025, the lowest level in more than two decades excluding the pandemic years.
- Cuba missed its 2025 goal of 2.6 million visitors, deepening a foreign‑currency squeeze as the broader economy contends with shortages and recurring blackouts.
- Major source markets contracted sharply, including Canada (-12.4%), Cuban residents abroad (-22.6%), Russia (-29%) and Germany (-50.5%), while only Argentina (+13.6%) and Colombia (+8%) increased flows.
- Canada advised its citizens to exercise heightened caution due to scarce electricity, fuel and basic goods, warning of nationwide outages that could exceed 24 hours and disrupt flights; about 754,000 Canadians visited in 2025, down 12.4%.
- Cuban officials cite long‑running U.S. sanctions as a drag on the sector, while media reports describe halted Venezuelan oil shipments and note a recent U.S. order aimed at tariffs on suppliers of crude to Cuba, compounding fuel strains that affect visitor services.