The current state of Cuba is critical. Ongoing U.S. blockades on oil, along with other sanctions, have pushed the Caribbean nation into a state of limbo. Among the industries hardest hit by diplomatic tensions is tourism, which once generated billions of dollars in revenue and is now struggling to survive.
After averaging more than 4 million visitors as recently as 2019, only about 1.6 million tourists traveled to Cuba between January and November 2025, a drop of nearly 70 percent since 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with continued U.S. pressure and sanctions, has stalled tourism across the island.
As noted by The New York Times, the Trump administration has spent months trying to deal a blow to Cuba's tourism sector. Last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order restricting Americans' ability to travel to Cuba, stay at government owned hotels or visit the island aboard cruise ships.
As a result, experts say Cuba's tourism industry could face a year comparable only to the pandemic, when global travel largely shut down.
In response to the ongoing oil restrictions, Cuban officials have accused the Trump administration of trying to push the country toward collapse.
"What does it mean to prevent a single drop of fuel from reaching a country?" President Miguel Díaz Canel said last month. "It means affecting food transportation, food production, public transportation, the functioning of hospitals, institutions of all kinds, schools, economic output and tourism," adding that surrendering is "not an option."
Meanwhile, as Cuba's tourism sector faces one of its most critical moments, Canadian visitors have remained a cornerstone of the industry. According to The New York Times, they account for roughly 40 percent of foreign arrivals, but reports of nationwide blackouts, illnesses and growing piles of garbage in the streets have led many to consider other destinations.
"The Cuban people love Canadians," Debbie Sutherland, a behavioral therapist from Ontario whose vacation was cut short because of the island's ongoing energy crisis, told the newspaper. "They would say, 'You know, we would die without Canada.'"
Like Sutherland, many other Canadian tourists have seen their vacations cut short. The outlet reported that some airlines, including Air Canada, have suspended flights to Cuba because additional refueling stops disrupted schedules.
"More broadly, ongoing fuel supply challenges in Cuba, combined with instability in the power grid, have broader implications for customers," said Christophe Hennebelle, a spokesman for Air Canada, which had 3,000 customers in Cuba on vacation packages.
Basic necessities such as food and medical care were becoming scarce, he added. "We do not want to put the health, safety and well being of our passengers at risk."
As the United States continues blocking oil shipments to the island in hopes of pressuring political change, Jorge Piñón, head of the University of Texas' Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program, warned last month that Cuba's oil reserves could dry up within weeks.
"Cuba's electric power sector is totally collapsed," he said. "If by March you don't see an oil cargo ship on the horizon coming either into Havana or Cienfuegos, they will have reached 'zero,'" Piñón said.
Originally published on Latin Times
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