# Cuba's Tourism Sector Faces Crisis as 75% of Hotels Close Amid US Sanctions and Fuel Shortages

*Cuba's tourism industry, once a major source of foreign currency, is now in crisis with three-quarters of hotels closed.*

July 30, 2026 · business

## At a glance

- Nearly 75% of Cuba's hotels have closed due to US sanctions and fuel shortages.
- Seven international hotel chains have left the island, affecting about half of all hotel rooms.
- Tourism, once Cuba's second-largest source of foreign currency, has seen a 58% drop in arrivals this year.

Nearly three-quarters of Cuba's hotels have been shuttered and the island's tourism sector has been brought to 'almost total paralysis' by US sanctions and fuel shortages, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said Wednesday. Detailing the scale of the tourism crisis for the first time, Marrero said seven international chains, responsible for about half of all hotel rooms, had left the island.

## Crisis Deepens

Tourism had been Cuba's second-largest source of foreign currency earnings, employing more than 300,000 people before the crisis deepened this year. Today, Old Havana's streets, once clogged with tourists seeking sun, salsa and stirred cocktails, are quiet. Some 73 percent of hotels have been closed, Marrero said, and about 25,000 workers have been left 'in a vulnerable situation'.

## Impact of Sanctions and Fuel Shortages

Following Havana's announcement in February of an aviation fuel shortage, Canadian, Russian and European airlines suspended flights to the island. The sector's troubles accelerated after Washington imposed sanctions in May on the military-run conglomerate GAESA, prompting several international operators to end hotel management agreements to avoid US penalties. Although Spanish groups Melia and Iberostar continued operating hotels in partnership with Cuba's Tourism Ministry, Washington widened its sanctions in July.

## Devastating Effects

Official figures show tourist arrivals dropped 58 percent between January and June compared with the same period a year earlier. The closure of hotels and the departure of international chains have left many Cubans in the tourism sector without jobs. The crisis has also severely impacted Cuba's economy, which relied heavily on tourism revenues.

## Sources

- BSS

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Source: https://pulsetoday.com.bd/en/business/cuba-tourism-crisis-hotels-shuttered