Havana/“Nothing worked, there was no hot water, no change of sheets or towels unless you begged,” a guest at the Valentin Varadero El Patriarca wrote on January 28, in a review titled Terrible experience. Ana – the name she used for the review – had been at the hotel from January 21 to 28 and summed up her stay with a curt warning: “Please don’t waste your money on this place.” The phrase, taken from Tripadvisor says more about the situation of the tourism in Cuba than the official notes about beaches, rum and tobacco pairings or “destination news”.
With this backdrop, the International Tourism Fair of Cuba, FITCuba 2026, dedicated to Varadero, will be held from May 7 to 9. For the first time, the event will be virtualalthough with activities for the so-called “general public” in Josone Park. The Ministry of Tourism has sold the format as an opportunity to expand the participation of tour operators, airlines, hotel chains and travel agencies. But the most revealing explanation was given by Minister Juan Carlos García Granda himself: “Without fuel it is very difficult to carry out the activity.”
In the virtual inauguration of FITCuba 2026, the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, tried to turn precariousness into a strategy of marketing. He thanked the businessmen and tour operators who still maintain ties with the Island, defended tourism as a source of income to support social services and assured that Cuba will be ready “when the situation is restored.” He also appealed to the government’s usual repertoire by blaming US sanctions and stating that “nothing can block the beauties and hospitality” of the country.
If Cuba does not brings its main tourist event to the world It is not because he suddenly discovered the virtues of digitalization, but because the energy and fuel crisis hits even the showcase that the Government tries to show as being in a state of normality.
The virtual fair arrives after a 2025 that was already bad
Between January and March 2026, the Island received 298,057 international visitorscompared to 573,363 in the same period in 2025. The drop was 48%, according to the National Office of Statistics and Information. In absolute terms, there are 275,306 fewer tourists in just three months, right during the high season in the Caribbean.
The monthly curve shows an even more disturbing collapse: 184,833 visitors in January77,663 in February and just 35,561 in March. The month, which should be one of the strongest for sun and beach, ended up becoming an alarm signal, in a clear vertical drop.
Nor can everything be explained by the US energy blockade or Donald Trump’s recent threats. The virtual fair arrives after a 2025 that was already bad. Cuba closed that year with 1,810,663 international visitors, against 2,203,117 in 2024. The occupancy rate fell from 23% to 18.9% of available rooms, a figure incompatible with the enormous hotel investments in recent years while there was a lack of food, medicine, public transportation and housing for the population.
The crisis also appears in customer testimonies since the end of 2025. At the Puntarena Playa Caleta hotel in Varadero, a tourist described a stay marked by the lack of electricity and hot water. “This hotel should not accept guests,” Natalia wrote. According to the reviewthe hotel was without power for about a day, with guests forced to navigate emergency stairs. The complaint coincides with the deterioration described by a Spanish tourist that was wondering: “Why do tour operators continue selling travel packages knowing that the power goes out, that not enough food arrives, that the hotel complexes are abandoned?”
“Staff were slow to respond, unhelpful, and showed little interest in guest satisfaction. For the price and reputation of this resort, this experience was unacceptable. Would not return”
At the Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda, another client was directly against the food offer: “The food was consistently bad, poorly prepared, tasteless and often unappetizing.” He added that “the staff was slow to respond, unhelpful and showed little concern for guest satisfaction. For the price and reputation of this resort, this experience was unacceptable. I would not return.” At the Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul, another guest wrote that it was his seventh visit to Cuba and that he had found “the worst food we have ever had.” Additionally, “the staff was poorly trained and disorganized.”
These complaints do not replace statistics, but they illuminate them. When a destination sells “all-inclusive” and the visitor finds closed bars, absent buffets, bad food, blackouts or deteriorated facilities, the crisis stops being macroeconomic and becomes a concrete experience. A tourist does not return because a minister says that Varadero is still open. Return if the hotel is working, if there are flights, if the food is well prepared, if the air conditioning works and if you are not afraid of being stranded due to lack of fuel.
Air connectivity is another critical front. In February, aviation fuel shortages caused flight suspensions of Canadian airlines and up to 1,709 flights cancelled. Air Canada, WestJet and Transat suspended services; Russia announced it would pull out its tourists and halt flights until fuel availability improved. Air France, for its part, suspended its Paris-Havana flights from March 28 to June 15 due to lack of fuel and its impact on tourism.
Aruba, much smaller than Cuba, received 136,578 staycation visitors in January 2026 alone
While Cuba turns its fair into a trench of “creative resistance,” its regional competitors show muscle. The Dominican Republic received 3,710,374 visitors between January and March 2026, 11% more year-on-year, according to official figures cited by specialized media. The Caribbean neighbor captured more than twelve times the Cuban volume.
Mexico, another direct rival in the Caribbean and the sun and beach market, received 16.85 million international arrivals between January and February 2026, 9.3% more year-on-year, according to official figures cited by Mexico News Daily. Aruba, much smaller than Cuba, received 136,578 stay visitors in January 2026 alone, with an average stay of 7.8 nights.
Nor can we talk about the international situation to justify the decline in tourism in Cuba in recent years. Other destinations also face inflation, air competition, hurricanes, cost crises and geopolitical tensions, but they have not lost the ability to guarantee basic services.
FITCuba 2026 will be able to bring together screens, presentations from foreign chains, virtual tours and toasts with rum and tobacco. But what it will not be able to hide is that Cuban tourism no longer competes only against Punta Cana, Cancun, Aruba or Puerto Rico. Compete against the real experience of your own visitors.
