Cuba: 70% of Hotels Shut Due to US Sanctions

Cuba has announced that more than 70% of its hotels have been forced to close their doors, with Havana pointing squarely at longstanding United States sanctions as the primary cause of the island's accelerating tourism collapse. The Cuban government's statement underscores the dramatic deterioration of what was once one of the Caribbean's most visited destinations. The closure of the majority of the country's hotel stock signals not just an economic crisis, but a structural breakdown of the tourism infrastructure that has long served as Cuba's main source of foreign currency. US sanctions, which have been progressively tightened over decades and intensified under various administrations, restrict American travel to Cuba, block financial transactions, and limit the island's access to international banking systems. The compound effect of these measures has made it increasingly difficult for Cuban hotels to source supplies, process international payments, or attract investment for maintenance and renovation. While Cuba has historically attracted European and Canadian tourists, the broader economic paralysis — including chronic fuel shortages and prolonged power blackouts — has made travel to the island far less appealing even for those not subject to US travel restrictions. The result is a vicious cycle: fewer tourists mean less revenue, which means less capacity to maintain or reopen hotels, which in turn drives visitor numbers even lower. From a Mauritian perspective, the Cuban situation offers a sobering reminder of how fragile tourism-dependent economies can be when exposed to geopolitical pressure. Mauritius, which also relies heavily on its hospitality sector, has long pursued a strategy of economic diversification and diplomatic neutrality precisely to avoid such vulnerabilities. The island's ability to attract tourists from multiple continents — and to maintain open financial channels globally — reflects a deliberate policy of reducing dependency on any single market or political relationship. Cuba's plight may well reinforce calls within small island developing states (SIDS) to build more resilient economic models, strengthen regional tourism alliances, and diversify away from single-source dependency — lessons that remain highly relevant for Mauritius and its Indian Ocean neighbours. As Cuba struggles to keep its remaining hotels operational, the international community watches closely to see whether diplomatic shifts in Washington could eventually ease the pressure — or whether the island's tourism sector faces further decline.