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Major Hotel Chains Exit Cuba as Payment Rails and Sanctions Clamp Down

U.S. measures targeting the military conglomerate Gaesa plus an OFAC unwind deadline and imminent Visa and Mastercard cutoffs are severing the island’s main sources of tourist dollars.

Overview

  • Meliá announced Wednesday that its Ilha Bela unit will immediately stop managing and marketing 15 Cuban hotels after concluding the properties were no longer operable or legally secure.
  • Blue Diamond confirmed on Monday that it has ceased all Cuban operations and had been managing 62 properties under ten brands without owning the real estate.
  • Iberostar has detached from 12 Gaviota-linked hotels following pressure from new U.S. rules that target Gaesa, the military-run conglomerate that controls much of Cuba’s tourism assets.
  • The Banco Central of Cuba said international card payments via Visa and Mastercard will stop on June 6 after a foreign bank ended ties with Fincimex, and the U.S. Treasury set a June 5 deadline for firms to cut links to Gaesa.
  • Chronic fuel and electricity shortages have forced flight suspensions, widespread hotel closures and a 55.8% drop in international arrivals from January through April 2026, deepening Cuba’s loss of foreign exchange and hitting workers, suppliers and local communities.