Many Cubans Continue to Bet on Tourism for Survival
As a source of income for thousands of families and private businesses
By Amado Viera
HAVANA TIMES – From time to time, the daily difficulties make Jose Manuel* reconsider the possibility of closing his rental house (known as a casa particular). “If it weren’t for the fact that it’s still the economic support of the family, I would have done it a long time ago,” he confesses.
The daily stay of a single guest can provide an income equivalent to his monthly salary as a doctor, or to his wife’s, teaching at an art school. Along with the rest of the family, they live in Morón, in the province of Ciego de Ávila, 400 kilometers southeast of Havana. This small city is the gateway to the Jardines del Rey archipelago, one of Cuba’s main tourist destinations.
In the mid-2010s, after returning from a medical mission in Africa, Jose Manuel decided to invest his savings into repairing the house he had inherited from his paternal grandparents to set up his hostel. The business had a promising start, but later the sanctions from Trump’s first presidency, the pandemic, and the economic crisis made it increasingly difficult to operate.
Currently, finding fruit, eggs, and milk, the basic components of any breakfast, is a challenge. “I’ve had money and still had nothing to buy because everything is so inconsistent. The extreme case was when I had no choice but to go to the homes of relatives who had fruit trees to collect some bananas, a couple guavas, and a few eggs to prepare breakfast for my guests at the time. They couldn’t believe me when I told them that it was impossible to find those products anywhere in the city. Not even when we live in a predominantly agricultural province,” he says.
These are not times of a political thaw
The interruptions in food supply are largely due to the fuel shortage. On average, Cuba operates with a third less fuel than it needs to maintain its basic functions. The deficit is greater for gasoline and diesel. The situation is so dire that since February 19, higher octane gasoline is only sold in dollars. On the same date, the government drastically reduced the gasoline and diesel allocations to its institutions.
For the thousands of families involved in tourism, the situation also translates into difficulties in acquiring fuel for the power generators their businesses use to reduce the impact of frequent blackouts, and in a reduced “mobility” of tourists.
Before the pandemic, many foreign visitors would arrive in the country via Havana and after several days there, rent cars to travel to natural reserves like Viñales or the Cienaga de Zapata, and to heritage cities like Trinidad. After several days, they would finish their stays on the paradisiacal beaches of the north coast. Businesses like Jose Manuel’s relied on these “independent” travelers who preferred to save some money by staying in B&Bs in Moron instead of expensive hotels in the keys. In their rented cars, daily trips to the beaches were easy.
With the current fuel crisis, that model is unfeasible. In 2024, Cuba received 2.2 million foreign tourists, just over half of the number in 2019, and even fewer than in 2023. This sharp decrease was compounded by the difficulties visitors had in exploring the island themselves, one of the main attractions of local tourism.
An official from Havanatur, Cuba’s main state-run car rental company, anonymously admitted to this report that their company lacks enough vehicles to meet even the demand from international tourists.
Additionally, “there’s the problem with gas stations, which often do not operate due to blackouts or simply run out of fuel because of irregular distribution cycles. Earlier this year, in the city of Camagüey (550 kilometers southeast of Havana), some foreign tourists who were passing through even went to the government headquarters to demand that they sell them fuel so they could continue their trips. Rightfully, they argued that they weren’t at fault for the gas stations authorized to sell in dollars being without electricity,” he narrated.
“Today, the situation is very difficult in every sense. In addition to the usual operating costs, there are many other unpredictable factors. Running a business while enduring 15 to 20 hours of daily power outages, with unstable suppliers and workforce, is almost reckless. The good times of the Obama ‘Thaw’ era, when Cuba was trendy and we even had an increasing demand from US tourists, are long gone,” confessed Michel Oliva, the manager of a private bar in the city of Ciego de Ávila.
Meanwhile, the government is pinning its hopes on luxury hotels, particularly newly built ones. The best-known and most controversial, the Iberostar Selection La Habana, was inaugurated on February 23. Others, not as well-known but equally ostentatious, have been dominating the landscape of Havana in recent years, in real estate operations about which little is known. The money spent on just one of these projects could have restored several of the old classic hotels in Havana, like the Riviera, or created a support fund for the small family businesses across the island.
“My personal feeling is that we’re on our own. The government only remembers us for taxes, even though the country’s reality is getting harder every day. However, there’s no other option but to keep going. At some point, things will have to improve,” reflects Jose Manuel. The three rooms he prepared years ago to rent are all his and his family’s assets. At least for him, there’s no turning back.
*A pseudonym is used at the request of the interviewee.
Cubans are very good but once they get your niceness they will take you to the cleaners and the law is on their side, they know the police the immigration people and you are alone I lost $50,000 thousand in Guardalavaca and there is nothing I can do. That’s Cuba
That is why it will never go forward. One day Castro will be born again and put some true progress, until then a country with no law is like a jungle. I don’t feel for them I’m sorry.
Sue if you type in Club Amigo Holguin, Cuba you will find pages with the answer.
Wonder what it costs to stay at club amigo in holguin for 8 days.
Every country in the world except 2 says stop the sanctions, this is 100% caused by SAnctions put on Cuba by the usa, every year the world votes, every year the usa and only one or 2 countries agree to keep sanctions. I take my family every year to Cuba and will continue to do so and try and help out when I can and take what I can to give to them
The Miami Herald published a story that the Cuban military which owns all the main hotels has a secret stash of $5 Billion in just one of dozens of secret accounts in Lichtenstein. Batista only stole $300 million. These degenerates don’t care about their starving country men.
If Cuba wants more tourists, open all the 3 stars as winter vacation long term rentals for senior citizens. Set a one price all inclusive deal for 5 month packages. Ensure staff and doctors are senior friendly, plan activities for them, etc. They have the time and money to enjoy the sunshine and Cuban hospitality. It’s a massive, wealthy market which would ensure high vacancy and lower costs (less liquor consumption,etc) that the government so badly needs right now.
It is the end of tourism as I see it. Havana is full of people who try to cheat and swindle people. I have been many times and this year is substantially worse than last year. To quote one artist prediction on Prado: “This year will be much better than next year.” The shortages are evident even in All Inclusive resorts.
Yes Cuba must return to tourist and small business and small farmers and let them profit from their work in all areas of free independent business and marketing the government should concentrate on people and business independent of all the scrutiny of the government less spending on military No one will ever invade there country and the government has ample protection for their country with other communist countries, also free business and paying taxes for infrastructure and other benefits of business.
The tourism industry was hobbled when the new 50% owners of Habanos SA decided it would be a good idea to raise the prices of cigars to Hong Kong standard. Thousands of “cigar tourists” cancelled all future plans to visit Cuba to smoke and purchase cigars. It would seem to be a wise move to return the Cuba price of cigars to a lower price bracket to bring the cigar tourists back to the island. With record profits last year for Habanos you would think they could put some of these dollars back into the Cuban economy. I know the cigar tourists where a drop in the bucket in the overall tourism numbers but I know for a fact thousands of Cuban cigar aficionados no longer make Cuba a destination in their travel plans.
It’s a tragedy how Cuba has been systematically destroyed by the Castro Inc. regime through abject corruption and plain greed.
How can a government be running famous name restaurants in Cuba, fast food outlets and retail stores and expect efficiency? Standing outside those same retail establishments you will be offered the same items as in the stores by ventriloquists whose lips don’t move. Everybody operates some sort of under the table business or as part of the black market.
The government is so retarded in its thinking now that they have lost the plot completely so resort to hardline tactics to subjugate and control the population.
All that is needed to bring down the regime is for Cubans to take to the streets en masse, silently as happened in the Eastern bloc countries.
The remaining Castros and pinchos will simply get on their prepared planes and fly out to Venezuela.
Wish it were that simple…..Cubans are their own worst enemy on both sides of the Florida Straits. They are incapable of organising themselves and just talk the hind leg off a donkey on social media y no pase nada.
The business gusanos in Miami don’t want the Blockade to be dropped as they prosper by way of the mulas taking merchandise to Cuba. Talking amongst themselves in front of Cafe Versailles about the Cuban regime is all they do but again, no pase nada.
Most Americans couldn’t put a pin on the map as to where Cuba lies. The Cuban exile community don’t do a very good job of educating Americans abiut what’s going on in Cuba.
Marco Rubio should concentrate his efforts on Cuba instead of berating Ukraine’s Zelensky.
There plenty of wealthy Cubans living the good life in the US you would think they would try to help. Many options to develop reusable energy for the Cuban people they have solar,wind and water
As a fellow writer, and bicycle tourist that loves Cuba, I was lucky enough to speak with a radio journalist in central Cuba frankly and openly, far from his radio station.
His story was very similar others I’ve heard; that the government dictates the coverage, the headlines, and the angles he’s allowed to take on most all news stories.
He was very discouraged but not yet ready to leave…or didn’t have the means.
I wish the government could see that it could get so much more by opening up,
and allowing more opinions, more enterprise, more freedom.
I go with a nonprofit and get gov approval to stay at a private house for free I just buy the family their food and leave a couple not small items I see many rentals now empty and because of what we do and they empty now can often get a place for 3000 pesos per day when need I stayed a place in Havana for 7 including a good breakfast no eggs off course
I tend to stay in the same casa particular for my visits to Cuba. However, over the last 17 years of visiting Cuba, there have been several times when there were other tourists staying in my favorite rental house prior and during my planned visit. When this happened, we simply stayed in another rental. The owners of casa particulares are a special people. They become ambassadors of Cuba to their guests and, at the same time, are eyewitnesses to the stark differences between Cuba and most of the western world. Rental house owners are generally upper-middle, if not, wealthy Cubans and are likely the most patriotic Cubans in the country. As a result, if Cuba begins to lose rental house owners as suggested in this post, the die is likely cast and beginning of the end has begun.