- For the seventh consecutive month, fewer visitors arrived than the previous year
- Russia and Mexico, the only two markets that had been growing recently, are declining
14ymedio, Madrid, 22 November 2024 — This Friday, 48 hours after the celebration of Cuban Tourism Day with the image of Fidel Castro in the background, a new bucket of cold water fell on the sector. The National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) has made public the data on international travelers for October, which show a drop of 3.9% so far this year compared to the same period in 2023. In the tenth month of 2024, only 125,772 foreign visitors arrived on the Island, exactly 33,163 fewer than in October of last year, when there were 158,935.
Furthermore, this is the seventh consecutive month in which the number of tourists is lower than that recorded in the same month of the previous year. In fact, the number is very similar to that of 2022, consolidating the downward trend of a sector that not only has not recovered from the pandemic, but has worsened compared to the slightly improved figures it had in the last two years.
With the last two months of the year still to go, months that mark the start of the high season on the island, 1,844,917 tourists have travelled to Cuba, 128,256 fewer than in the same period in 2023. With this figure, the Government is 855,083 travelers short of its most recent forecast for this year, which it made after rectifying the previous one the spur of the moment. At the beginning of 2024, after the failure of the previous year’s objectives – which were set at 3.5 million foreign visitors – the government reduced the expectation to 3.2 million.
In the tenth month of 2024, only 125,772 foreign visitors arrived on the Island, exactly 33,163 fewer than in October of last yearIn the tenth month of 2024, only 125,772 foreign visitors arrived on the Island, exactly 33,163 fewer than in October of last year
The year did not start off badly, with figures slightly higher than those of the previous year, but in April everything began to go wrong with the number of tourists lower than that recorded in the corresponding month of 2023, a situation that has not been rectified. On the contrary, the gap seems to be widening more and more. In September, the Government announced that the expected drop in the sector would be 16% and reduced the forecast to 2.7 million tourists. To achieve its new objective, it would have to receive almost 900,000 travelers in the last two months of this year, something that seems impossible.
The drama of losses is widespread, as even in countries where the quota of visitors had been improved compared to last year, the percentage is falling. This is the case of Russia, a preferred market for Cuba and one in which it is investing its efforts at full capacity. In September, an accumulated annual increase of 11.9% was recorded from that source, while now it is only 7%.
In total, 156,618 Russians have visited the island so far this year, leaving the target of 200,000 as something unattainable, even further away than could have been foreseen when a few days ago the Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, admitted that the forecast has been postponed to 2025. He did so in statements to the Tass agency in which he announced investments by Russian businessmen in hotels on the island which, in light of the circumstances, it will have to be seen whether they materialize, joining the long list of promises from Moscow that are blown away by the wind.
The drama of losses is widespread, as even from countries where the quota of visitors had been improved compared to last year, the percentage is now falling.
Growth in the Mexican market, one of the few that was on the rise, is also slowing down, but more moderately than the Russian market. The previous month the increase was 5.4% and in October it was 3.7%, a poor result for a clientele that has been given special emphasis, with several campaigns in the country to sell Cuba as a destination.
Argentina, which was also showing growth margins until last month – when it still had an annual increase of 1.4% – has already entered a recession and 38,622 travelers from that country have arrived in Cuba this year as of October 31, compared to 39,668 on the same date in 2023.
In the rest of the markets, the trend remains unchanged. Canada is still far ahead, with 727,261 tourists, but 2.9% less than in 2023. In that country, there is a growing movement of operators who stop recommending Cuba as a destination in light of the lack of quality that Cuban facilities offer as a result of the deep economic crisis. The shortage of electricity, food and drink in both hotels and restaurants, as well as medicines and fuel have become warning indicators for Canadians, who have stopped betting as before on the Island as a star destination in the Caribbean. The most recent blow, of the many coming from the country in the last year, is that of the Sunwing Vacation chain, which has removed 26 Cuban hotels from its catalogue.
German tourism has fallen by 4.8%, French by 9.1% and Italian by 15.6%
Another significant loss coming from North America is that of Americans and Cubans abroad – mostly residents in the US. The former have accounted for 118,038 so far this year, 9.4% less than in 2023; and the latter 244,118, with a sharp drop of 17.8%.
Meanwhile the decline in Spain is getting worse every day. The number of travelers from one of the countries with the strongest cultural and economic ties to the island has decreased by 26.9% compared to the number up to November 2023, from 76,282 to just 55,780. This is the most serious case, in terms of numbers but also historical ties, of a situation that is widespread in the EU. German tourism has fallen by 4.8%, French tourism by 9.1% and Italian tourism by 15.6%.
Ignoring the situation, just two days ago the State newspaper Granma congratulated itself in a note that “during this year, Cuba received several international awards, including the title of Leading Cultural Destination of the Caribbean,” without explaining who awarded it. The government, which needs to justify the excessive investments made in the sector with no success, insists that tourism is the “engine of the economy” and that in 2025 “the digital transformation of the destination will continue to be strengthened, and its infrastructure and qualified personnel for the celebration of cultural, sporting and health events will be maintained.”
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