Cuba pins hopes on China to help save sputtering tourism industry
By Nelson Acosta
HAVANA (Reuters) -Cuba is pinning its hopes on attracting more visitors from Communist ally China as part of a last-ditch bid to revive a sputtering tourism industry devastated by renewed U.S. sanctions under the Trump administration and a crisis-wracked economy.
Visitors from abroad, a critical source of foreign currency on the island, plunged by nearly a third in the first quarter of 2025, according to recent data from Cuba's statistics agency, ONEI, an ominous sign that has left top officials on the archipelago scrambling for alternatives.
Cuba had forecast 2.6 million visitors in 2025, an 18% increase over the previous year, but seems unlikely to hit that target as the peak northern winter fades into a sultry Caribbean summer.
"It's no secret that, recently, our country, and especially the tourism sector, is facing a complex scenario," said Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia in a speech on Wednesday inaugurating the island's annual tourism fair - this year dedicated to China.
Garcia praised China in his talk, saying their close ties of cooperation and friendship had "stood the test of time."
The Asian giant could prove fertile ground for Cuba, despite the vast physical distance between the two countries.
Air China last May opened its first direct flight between the two countries, which, while an intimidating 24-hour voyage, has helped boost visitor numbers. The Chinese are also exempt from obtaining a visa to visit the Caribbean island nation.
Visitors from China in 2024 jumped 50%, bucking the downward trend.
But Russia, Canada, Spain, and Italy - for which Cuba has been a popular destination until recently - saw visitor numbers drop in early 2025, according to ONEI statistics.
U.S. visitors, including Cuban-Americans, also dropped off sharply in the first quarter.
"It is unfair that U.S. citizens are prohibited, by law, from traveling freely as tourists to Cuba," said Cuba Prime Minister Manuel Marrero in a presentation to attendees at the fair.
Cuba has long appealed to tourists attracted by the mystique of a Communist-run island which, at least to visitors, appears frozen in time thanks to a plethora of 1950s autos and towns mostly free of the kind of commercial development seen elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Marrero said Cuba was seeking more diverse forms of tourism, to encourage foreign investment and partnerships and implement economic reforms to help revive the island's appeal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
12 minutes ago
- USA Today
ICE raids meat production plant in Omaha, dozens detained
ICE raids meat production plant in Omaha, dozens detained WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - An immigration raid on Tuesday at a meat production plant in Omaha, Nebraska was the "largest worksite enforcement operation" in the state during the Trump presidency, the Homeland Security Department said. U.S. Congressman Don Bacon told local media 75-80 people were detained. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid happened at a plant of Glenn Valley Foods. The food packaging company said it was surprised by the raid and had followed the rules regarding immigration status. Chad Hartmann, president of Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha, said the plant that was raided used E-Verify, a federal database used for checking employees' immigration status. He told Reuters that when he said this to a federal agent, the agent responded "the system is broken" and urged him to contact his local congressional representative. ICE officers have been intensifying efforts in recent weeks to deliver on U.S. President Donald Trump's promise of record-level deportations. The White House has demanded the agency sharply increase arrests of migrants in the U.S. illegally, sources have told Reuters. More: Curfew enacted for parts of LA; Newsom says Trump chose 'theatrics over public safety' Tensions boiled over in Los Angeles over the weekend when protesters took to the streets after ICE arrested migrants at Home Depot stores, a garment factory and a warehouse, according to migrant advocates. Local police in Omaha said they were informed by immigration officials about the raid in advance while the company said it got no notice about the operation ahead of time. Hartmann said federal agents had a warrant that said they had identified 107 people who they believed were using fraudulent documents. "This was the largest worksite enforcement operation in Nebraska under the Trump Administration," the Homeland Security Department said on X, adding no law enforcement official was hurt. ICE said a criminal investigation was ongoing into what immigration officials called a large-scale employment of immigrants who are present in the U.S. illegally. More: In LA's Paramount neighborhood ICE raids hit hard. Here's why. "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and federal law enforcement partners, executed a federal search warrant at Glenn Valley Foods, today, based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States," an ICE spokesperson told an ABC News affiliate. More than half of all meatpacking workers in the U.S. are immigrants, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank. Rights advocates, including the ACLU of Nebraska, condemned the raid. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Michael Perry)
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they 'went too far'
Elon Musk, the world's richest person and Donald Trump's former advisor, said Wednesday he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president, after the pair's public falling-out last week. "I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far," Musk wrote on his social media platform X. Musk's expression of regret came just days after Trump threatened the tech billionaire with "serious consequences" if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill. Their blistering break-up -- largely carried out on social media before a riveted public since Thursday last week -- was ignited by Musk's harsh criticism of Trump's so-called "big, beautiful" spending bill, which is currently before Congress. Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk -- one of the Republican Party's biggest financial backers in last year's presidential election -- to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation. "He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," Trump, who also branded Musk "disrespectful," told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be. Trump also said he had "no" desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has "no intention of speaking to him." In his post on Wednesday, Musk did not specify which of his criticisms of Trump had gone "too far." - 'Wish him well' - The former allies had seemed to have cut ties amicably about two weeks ago, with Trump giving Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But their relationship cracked within days as Musk described the spending bill as an "abomination" that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump's second term in office. Trump hit back at Musk's comments in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore. I was surprised," Trump told reporters. Musk, who was Trump's biggest donor to his 2024 campaign, also raised the issue of the Republican's election win. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," he posted, adding: "Such ingratitude." Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that cutting billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts to Musk's companies would be the "easiest way" to save the US government money. US media have put the value of the contracts at $18 billion. With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters "I just wish him well," and Musk responding on X: "Likewise." Trump had spoken to NBC on Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Musk had alleged that the Republican president is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges. Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case. "Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files," Musk posted on X. "That is the real reason they have not been made public." Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim. He appeared to have deleted those tweets by Saturday morning. bur-sco/dhc
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sudanese army retreats from Libyan border after alleging Haftar attack
DUBAI (Reuters) -The Sudanese army retreated from the Libya-Egypt-Sudan border triangle area, it said on Wednesday, a day after it accused forces loyal to eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar of an attack alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Sudanese soldiers, largely from former rebel groups aligned with the army, had patrolled the area. Sudan's military, which is fighting against the RSF in a civil war, accuses the RSF and Haftar's forces of using the corridor for weapons deliveries. The area is close to the city of al-Fashir, one of the war's main frontlines. "As part of its defensive arrangements to repel aggression, our forces today evacuated the triangle area," the Sudanese army said in a statement without elaborating. Late on Tuesday, Haftar's forces had denied participating in a cross-border attack, saying forces allied to the Sudanese army had attacked Libyan patrols. Sudan accuses the United Arab Emirates, one of Haftar's backers, of being behind the weapons deliveries, which the UAE denies. Egypt, a close ally of the Sudanese army, also backs Haftar.
