The United States fuel blockade of Cuba has tipped the island’s long‑running tourism slump into a full‑blown crisis. A sudden nationwide shortage of jet fuel and diesel is forcing hotel closures, triggering flight cancellations and diversions, and compounding an already fragile economy that leans heavily on foreign visitors. For travelers planning a winter escape to Havana’s streets or Varadero’s beaches, the reality on the ground is now defined by uncertainty, disruption, and rapidly changing plans.
How the US Fuel Blockade Pushed Cuba Over the Edge
Cuba’s current turmoil is rooted in a tightening of United States sanctions that specifically target the island’s access to oil. Washington has moved against tankers and intermediaries carrying crude to Cuba and imposed or threatened tariffs on countries that continue to supply fuel. The measures are aimed at cutting off shipments from traditional partners such as Venezuela and, more recently, Mexico, which had become a crucial secondary supplier.
Those sanctions have collided with Cuba’s own structural weaknesses. Domestic crude production is limited and of lower quality, ill suited to fully replace imported refined products such as Jet A‑1. Years of underinvestment in refineries and power infrastructure have left the country with little buffer. Once maritime deliveries slowed to a trickle, the government had few options beyond rationing and emergency reallocations of what fuel remained.
The result is an energy shock that goes far beyond holiday inconvenience. Power plants are operating with insufficient fuel, leading to long rolling blackouts. Public transport has been sharply reduced. State entities and private businesses alike are being ordered to cut back or shut down. Tourism, which depends on aviation fuel, diesel for transfers and excursions, and a stable power supply for hotels, has become one of the sectors most visibly and immediately affected.
Jet Fuel Drought at Airports: Flight Cancellations and Detours
The most dramatic sign of the crisis for international travelers is the announcement that Cuba’s main airports cannot provide jet fuel for at least a month. Notices to airmen have confirmed that from 10 February to 11 March 2026, nine airports, including Havana’s José Martí, Varadero, Cayo Coco, Holguín, Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba, will be unable to refuel commercial aircraft.
Faced with that reality, airlines have had three basic choices. Some, like Air Canada, have opted to suspend flights entirely for the duration of the emergency. The carrier has canceled its Cuba program and is operating empty aircraft southbound to bring home roughly 3,000 stranded Canadian travelers. Other airlines from Europe and the Americas are scrambling to redesign routes with technical stops in nearby countries such as the Dominican Republic or Mexico to refuel before continuing to Cuban destinations.
These workarounds come at a cost. Additional legs add flight time, burn more fuel overall, complicate crew schedules, and erode the thin profit margins on leisure routes. As a result, carriers are trimming frequencies, consolidating services, or withdrawing temporarily from secondary Cuban airports. For would‑be visitors, this translates into a patchwork of cancellations, reroutings, and schedule changes that can shift several times in a single week.
Domestic aviation, already limited, is similarly strained. With no spare fuel to keep smaller aircraft operating and demand collapsing, internal connections are being reduced to a minimum. Travelers accustomed to hopping between Havana, Santiago and the northern keys by air may now find those options unavailable or replaced by long, fuel‑rationed bus journeys.
Hotel Closures and “Consolidation” of Tourists
On the ground, the fuel drought is reshaping the hotel landscape just as peak high season is unfolding. Cuban authorities have confirmed that a formal plan is in place to “consolidate” the tourism sector by reducing energy consumption and concentrating guests in fewer properties. In practice, that has meant the temporary closure of hotels in key resort areas, especially Varadero and the northern cays such as Cayo Santa María and Cayo Coco.
Over recent weeks, lower‑occupancy resorts have quietly suspended operations, and tourists with confirmed reservations are being moved to sister properties or alternative hotels. Industry reports list closures in several all‑inclusive complexes in Cayo Santa María and other hubs, affecting both Cuban state‑run hotels and those managed by foreign chains like Meliá, Iberostar and Blue Diamond under joint‑venture arrangements.
The official rationale is straightforward: by shutting down partially empty properties and filling a smaller number of hotels more completely, the sector can cut electricity, water, and fuel usage while still honoring existing bookings. Air conditioning, pools, restaurants and entertainment for a full hotel require fewer resources than spreading the same number of guests thinly across multiple sites. For the government, this triage helps keep at least a core portion of the tourism offer functioning.
For visitors, however, the experience can be jarring. Tourists are seeing last‑minute changes to the hotels they carefully chose months earlier. Some are being bused to different beaches or keys than originally planned. Others arrive to find that parts of their resort are shuttered or operating with reduced services. While many travelers still report acceptable stays, the mismatch between expectations and reality is fueling a wave of complaints and cancellations in key source markets.
Strains on Service: Power Cuts, Transport Gaps and Staff Hardship
Even in hotels that remain open, the broader energy crisis is leaving visible marks. Power outages, already a persistent problem before the blockade intensified, have become more frequent and prolonged. Resorts are relying more heavily on generators, which in turn consume additional diesel that is also in short supply. To conserve fuel, some properties are rotating air conditioning, limiting elevator usage, or cutting back on nonessential lighting and entertainment.
Local transport is another pressure point. With fuel rationed at filling stations and public buses reduced, hotel workers often struggle to commute. In Varadero, some staff have been placed on unusual rosters that keep them working seven days in a row and then off for seven days, sleeping in nearby facilities during their work week because daily travel to their homes is impractical. Excursions for tourists, such as day trips to Havana or nature tours, are being reviewed or curtailed to prioritize essential transfers.
The supply chain for food and beverages, already fragile, is feeling the strain of limited refrigeration and transport. While major resorts still aim to provide buffet spreads and bar service, shortages of specific items are increasingly common. Visitors may find fewer imported products, more repetition in menus, and reduced availability of fresh produce or premium drinks. Complaints about deteriorating standards, which were rising even before the latest crisis, are likely to grow more acute.
Behind the scenes, staff wages and working conditions are under mounting pressure. Hotel employees face the same inflation, blackouts, and shortages as the rest of the population, yet rely on a tourism sector that is no longer growing. Reduced occupancies, rotating closures, and uncertainty over future bookings all contribute to job insecurity. The human cost of sustaining a shrunken but still prioritized tourism industry is becoming harder to ignore.
Crumbling Visitor Confidence and the Numbers Behind the Slump
Cuba’s tourism troubles did not begin with the current fuel blockade, but the latest shock threatens to cement a historic decline. Visitor arrivals have steadily fallen from nearly 4.7 million in 2017 to around 2.2 million in 2024. In 2025, the country welcomed only about 1.8 million international tourists, the lowest figure since the early 2000s if the pandemic years are excluded.
Traditional markets have been retreating. Canada, still the largest single source of visitors, has seen double‑digit percentage drops. European travelers from countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany have canceled routes or sharply reduced capacity, citing low demand, negative publicity and operational challenges. Several European carriers had already pulled back before the fuel emergency, reducing the island’s connectivity and feeding a sense that Cuba is a difficult destination to sell.
Hotel occupancy rates tell a similar story. Even during peak winter months, many resorts have been operating well below their design capacity. Industry data for 2025 showed average occupancy in the low twenties on a percentage basis across the first half of the year, an extraordinarily low figure for a Caribbean destination with substantial fixed costs. Major companies like Meliá have publicly flagged Cuba as a weak spot in their global portfolios, citing power outages, supply problems and declining length of stay.
The perception problem is now deepening. Images of darkened city blocks, long fuel lines and stranded tourists feed into a narrative of Cuba as a place of chronic crisis. As other Caribbean destinations upgrade their infrastructure and marketing, Cuba risks losing not only first‑time visitors but also loyal repeat customers who decide that the hassle and uncertainty outweigh the island’s cultural and natural appeal.
Economic Fallout: Hard Currency, Everyday Life and Political Pressure
The tourism slump triggered and intensified by the fuel blockade carries heavy consequences for Cuba’s broader economy. Tourism is one of the country’s main sources of hard currency, alongside remittances and limited exports. Fewer visitors mean fewer dollars and euros flowing into state coffers, joint ventures and private businesses that cater to foreigners. That shortfall complicates the government’s ability to pay for essential imports such as food, medicine, and, ironically, fuel.
As revenues shrink, the state has fewer resources to subsidize basic services and maintain infrastructure. The result is a feedback loop in which deteriorating conditions at home further erode the attractiveness of the tourism product. Power plants cannot be properly maintained. Water systems fail more frequently. Public transport grinds down. Urban decay, already visible in cities like Havana, accelerates as building repairs are delayed or abandoned.
Ordinary Cubans, many of whom do not directly benefit from tourism’s remaining enclaves of relative comfort, bear the brunt of this squeeze. Inflation erodes wages and pensions. Blackouts disrupt work, education and healthcare. Access to fuel for private vehicles and small businesses is heavily restricted, limiting mobility and economic opportunity. Against this backdrop, the sight of hotels protecting generators and fuel stocks for foreign guests can deepen resentment and a sense of inequality.
Internationally, the crisis is polarizing. Cuba’s allies condemn the United States for collective punishment of the island’s population, while Washington defends the sanctions as leverage on a government it accuses of repression and support for other sanctioned regimes. Regional actors, including Mexico, have tried to send humanitarian aid while balancing relations with both Havana and Washington. So far, however, those efforts have not been enough to significantly ease the fuel constraints hitting tourism.
What Travelers Need To Know Right Now
For prospective visitors, navigating this fast‑moving situation requires a new level of vigilance and flexibility. The first priority is to understand that flight schedules to and from Cuba are unstable through at least mid‑March 2026. Airlines may cancel services on short notice or introduce extra technical stops that change travel times and connections. Anyone holding tickets to Cuban destinations should monitor airline communications closely, checking for updates in the days and even hours before departure.
Package travelers should be prepared for hotel substitutions or changes to resort locations, especially in Varadero, the northern keys and Holguín. While tour operators are generally rebooking customers into properties of similar category, the exact beach, town, or hotel brand may differ from what was originally purchased. Travelers who feel strongly about particular resorts should speak with their agents to understand the likelihood of changes and their options if they occur.
On the ground, visitors should plan for potential power cuts, patchy mobile connectivity, and limited local transport. Packing essentials such as portable chargers, small flashlights, basic medicines and snacks can help mitigate some of the inconvenience. Those accustomed to spontaneous independent travel by rental car or intercity transport may need to lower expectations and build in more time and contingency into their itineraries.
Travel insurance with robust coverage for trip interruption and airline‑related disruption is more important than ever. Policies that explicitly address schedule changes, missed connections due to rerouting, and enforced hotel relocations can provide a financial safety net if plans unravel. At the same time, travelers should read the fine print, as some insurers may treat the situation as a known event with limited coverage for new bookings.
Outlook: Can Cuba’s Tourism Sector Recover?
Looking ahead, the key question is whether the current fuel blockade and energy crisis represent a temporary shock or the consolidation of a long‑term decline in Cuban tourism. In the short term, much depends on whether oil shipments resume in sufficient quantities to restore jet fuel supplies after the current mid‑March horizon. If flights normalize and hotels reopen quickly, some damage may be contained, although reputational harm will linger.
Yet even in the best‑case scenario, the structural issues exposed by this crisis will remain. Cuba’s overreliance on a handful of fuel suppliers, aging power grid, and heavy concentration of tourism in state‑linked conglomerates leave the sector vulnerable to future shocks. Without significant investment in infrastructure, diversification of energy sources, and a broader opening to private enterprise in hospitality and services, the island risks repeating cycles of boom and bust every time external conditions shift.
For foreign hotel chains and tour operators, the current turmoil may accelerate a cautious rebalancing away from Cuba in favor of more predictable Caribbean destinations. Companies have already signaled that, while they intend to maintain some presence on the island, they will be highly selective about new projects and quick to adjust capacity in response to political and operational risk.
For travelers considering Cuba, the decision has become more complex. The island still offers singular cultural depth, music, history and landscapes that cannot be replicated elsewhere. But those attractions now come intertwined with the realities of fuel shortages, hotel closures and economic stress. Anyone planning a trip in the coming months should do so with open eyes, up‑to‑date information, and a willingness to adapt on the fly in a destination where the tourism crisis is no longer an abstraction, but a daily fact of life.