Up to June, Cuba had received 981,856 international tourists, 327,799 fewer than those arriving in the same period last year, according to data released this Monday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
Overall, Canada remains the most important source market, with 428,125 travelers, although this represents only 75% of the 2024 total, which underscores the decline seen in almost all source markets.
Concluye el 1er semestre con el desastroso dato turístico de una caída de 25% en el acumulado de visitantes a Cuba en enero-junio 2025 en comparación con igual etapa de 2024. Canadá, comunidad cubana y EEUU concentraron 67,7% de los visitantes. El turismo ruso sigue deprimido pic.twitter.com/gd8tvPOb5i
— Pedro Monreal (@pmmonreal) July 21, 2025
Other important markets for the island experienced year-over-year declines, including Russia (56.5%), Germany (64.1%), France (73.6%), and Spain (73.8%).
According to the ONEI, visitors from the United States also showed a decline, of 80.6%, while the Cuban community abroad saw a 77.6% drop, with 120,423 visitors.
For economist Pedro Monreal, this is the first half of the year “with the disastrous tourism figure of a 25% drop.” Tourists in June totaled 119,513.
Colombia and the Latin American market
The exception to these declines was the Colombian market, with the only increase in the month audited, although this was only 388 travelers, representing a 102.4% increase compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, 26,702 travelers (87.6%) arrived from Mexico and 23,862 (92.9%) from Argentina.
At the end of June, Cuban Minister of Tourism Juan Carlos García Granda, speaking from Colombia, stated that it was necessary to “stimulate connectivity” in the region to benefit tourism.
Granda visited Colombia as part of the island’s government strategy to try to lift the dead weight of the tourism sector, which is also a victim of the severe economic crisis ravaging the island, while the wave of migration that has caused hundreds of thousands of people to leave the country has not yet ended.
Connectivity in the markets, a race for the future
“The strategy is to increase connectivity,” said Granda, who emphasized that Cuba, amid its disastrous economic situation and with its eyes on tourism as one of its lifelines, is trying to “strengthen the markets” it has always had.
Among these markets, he highlighted the cases of Colombia, Mexico and Brazil. At the same time, the ministry he leads is fully focused on Asia and the Middle East, from where, according to ONEI, the number of visitors has been, if not zero, insignificant.
Tourism is fundamental to the government’s plans due to its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and the inflow of foreign currency it brings (traditionally behind only professional services and remittances).
Cuba received 2.2 million international visitors in 2024, a total of 2.4 million in 2023 and 1.6 million in 2022, according to official data reported by EFE news agency.
