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Cuba’s tourism plummets 62% after US pressure and energy embargo
Official figures show 419,000 visitors arrived in Cuba this year as hotels, airlines and payment networks pulled back after stepped-up U.S. pressure.
- On Tuesday, the National Office of Statistics and Information reported that Cuba received 419,000 visitors so far in 2026, compared to 1.1 million during the same period in 2025, with hotels and attractions largely shuttered.
- Cuba's travel industry once attracted approximately 4.3 million tourists annually and served as an economic engine for 30 years before President Donald Trump imposed a radical energy embargo in January pressuring political and economic change.
- Between May and July, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions freezing accounts and barring tourism operators from the U.S. financial system; hospitality chains Meli, Iberostar, and Royalton suspended all contracts while Visa and Mastercard payment gateways were withdrawn.
- Major airlines including World2Fly, Air France, Turkish Airlines, and Iberia halted flights after planes were barred from refueling, while authorities acknowledged the sector previously generated $3 billion annually before the downturn.
- The 62% tourism decline from January to July positions the sector among Cuba's most severely impacted industries, with the combined effect of Trump's embargo and State Department sanctions systematically dismantling infrastructure once central to the island's economy.
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13 Articles
13 Articles
Associated Press News+5 Reposted by 5 other sources
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban tourism fell between January and July this year by 62% in relation to the same period of 2025, a sharp fall in the strategic sector on the island that is registered after the United States threatened international operators and imposed an energy fence, inform or
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources13
Leaning Left6Leaning Right2Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution46% Left
Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources lean Left
46% Left
L 46%
C 39%
15%
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