Tourism in Cuba : the situation is worsening daily

In Cuba, the Gaviota tourism conglomerate is bearing the brunt of the crisis and the potential bankruptcy of the hotel chains operating there, a situation exacerbated by the imminent threat of US sanctions.

The US Treasury Department is indeed preparing to implement, after June 5, punitive measures against companies—particularly Spanish ones—that continue to collaborate with Gaviota, the powerful tourism division of Gaesa, headed by Carlos Latuff.

This blacklist, which includes banks, suppliers of all kinds, and hotel companies, has sent shockwaves through the country, prompting almost all of these players to sever ties with the military conglomerate that controls half the economy of the now-devastated island.

To avoid upsetting Donald Trump’s White House, major financial institutions like Sabadell and Alto Cedro, an investment bank linked to the Botín family, are already preparing their withdrawal, following in the footsteps of the Canadian mining company Sherritt, which was the first to announce its departure, while major hotel chains are also abandoning historic destinations like Havana and Varadero after decades of partnership.

However, experts from prestigious think tanks paint a bleak and sometimes questionable picture of the future of these Iberian groups; some reports, for example, predict major difficulties for NH, clumsily omitting the fact that this chain is no longer Spanish and owns no hotels in Cuba, thus dismissing the historical role of groups with a long-standing presence.

Despite this geopolitical storm, the tourism transition in Cuba can only be successfully carried out by these Spanish chains and the Canadian company Royalton (Sunwing). Having been established for decades, they possess unique local expertise, reliable teams and infrastructure on the islands, and remain the only ones known to and connected to the leaders imposed by Marco Rubio.

However, the business model of these giants relies solely on management and franchise contracts without direct investment from them, which paralyzes the sector: the industry desperately needs new investors.

But they will not inject a single dollar until the Caribbean country has settled its legal disputes and, above all, has carried out the profound structural reform that the island urgently needs.