There were 184,800 visitors to the island in 2023, but the suspension of flights meant that only 249 travelers arrived on the island in March of this year.
14ymedio, Madrid, May 4, 2026 / “Cuba, which was among the 10 most searched destinations in 2025, practically disappeared from searches in 2026.” This stark statement appears in a report by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (Ator) in collaboration with Sletat, the leading travel and hotel search and booking service in the Eurasian giant. Just three days before the start of the Havana International Tourism Fair, FitCuba, the outlook couldn’t be worse for the island in one of its most important markets in recent years.
According to the report, the disappearance of Cuba and the United Arab Emirates from Russians’ favorite destinations is due to different reasons—the former due to flight suspensions, and the latter due to air travel closures caused by the war in Iran—but both have resulted in a complete shift in travelers’ preferences. Egypt, Vietnam, and China are the main beneficiaries of this situation, although a new destination has emerged nearby: Belarus, which appears for the first time in May 2026 as one of the ten most sought-after destinations.
The comparison was made using May 2025 as a reference point, when Cuba closed the top 10 preferences with 1.6%.
The comparison was made using May 2025 as a reference point, when Cuba closed out the top 10 preferences with 1.6%. Currently, the island is nowhere to be seen. Turkey remains at the top and is the main destination for Russians, accounting for a third of the demand (35.5%, almost the same as last year), followed by Egypt, which has grown substantially (from 20% to 26%), although it maintains its position. However, Vietnam is now third on the list, with 9.6%, whereas a year ago it was in seventh place with less than 3%, making it a surprise hit.
China is another country where the rise is noticeable, climbing from ninth place in 2025 to sixth, gaining three points to reach 5.5%. Along with Belarus—the neighboring country led by a Putin ally—the Maldives and Indonesia enter the top ten for the first time. And the small republic of Abkhaziaalong the Black Sea, Thailand, and Russia itself remain on the list of favorites.
Although Cuba has completely collapsed, with no flights and therefore a 0% market share, the declines are more pronounced for the other two countries dropping out of the top 10, as both had larger market shares. This is the case for Tunisia, which falls from 2.6% to 0.6%, and the United Arab Emirates, which was at 8.4%.
The analysis also includes the population’s desires, reflected in searches compared to actual purchase data. The case of Turkey is revealing, as customer interest exceeds final sales. Of the searches on the portal 43.2% focused on Turkish beaches, eleven percentage points higher than the actual number of purchases.
The uncertainty surrounding Russian tourism to Cuba is significant. Russia is the only country, along with Canada, that almost immediately suspended all flights to the island as soon as it became known that there was no fuel available at international airports to refuel aircraft. Airlines from other nations have maintained routes and sought alternatives, at least until the end of the high season—such as Iberia. But Rossiya, Nordwind, and the Canadian carriers Air Canada and Air Transat canceled their flights just hours after the Cuban aviation authorities issued their warning.
The Russians who were on the island at that time – February 10 – were evacuated on various ships until 4,300 tourists had left, out of a total of 7,314 that month. The result has been clear: in March, only 249 Russians traveled to Cuba.
Russia and Cuba worked very closely to foster the growth of the Eurasian country as a market for the island. During the years of the thaw with the US, beginning in 2015—the best for the sector in Cuba—the number of Russian tourists grew significantly, even doubling the figures from previous periods. Although in 2019 travelers from that country began to look for similar beaches but with better amenities in other Caribbean destinations, the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine had the unexpected effect of boosting that flow.
Although in 2019 travelers from that country began to look for similar beaches but with better amenities in other Caribbean destinations, the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine had the unexpected effect of favoring that flow
Havana once again saw Moscow’s isolation as an opportunity for growth, and through talks between the two governments that facilitated an increase in flights, Russian tourism became the panacea to offset the general decline in visitors. In 2023, the construction of a hotel specifically focused on Russian tourism was first discussed during a visit to Havana by Boris Titov, president of the Cuba-Russia Business Council and a trusted advisor to the Kremlin, during which several new business ventures between the two countries were announced, including the opening of a wholesale store.
That same year, 184,800 Russians arrived in Cuba, far fewer than the 936,000 Canadians, but Russians were the second most common nationality by origin—only Cuban-Americans surpassed Russians. The outlook was so promising that the Cuban Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, promised 200,000 arrivals by 2024, but this figure was not reached, and the goal was postponed to 2025. Not only did this not happen, but the opposite occurred. Last year, only 131,900 Russians arrived on the island.
Moscow has repeatedly promised to support the regime in the face of increasing US pressure and, in fact, is the only country that has sent oil since the end of January. However, it has done nothing to continue flying to the island to provide some lifeline to a dying sector.
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