\n<\/p>\n
HAVANA — <\/span>It\u2019s almost noon in Havana<\/a> when a handful of tourists tumble out of a small yellow bus and rush toward a row of shiny classic cars, cameras in hand.<\/p>\n Nearby, under the shade of a beach almond tree, a group of drivers jump to their feet, some hoping for their first customer of the day.<\/p>\n But the tourists take a couple of quick selfies in front of brightly colored cars ranging from a 1950 Pontiac to a 1960 Buick and walk away.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is grim,\u201d said Reymundo Aldama, who drives a bubblegum pink 1957 convertible Ford Fairlane. \u201cWe\u2019re waiting for them to come, we\u2019re waiting for work.\u201d<\/p>\n Tourism in Cuba is plummeting<\/a> at a time when the island desperately needs that revenue, with the number of visitors dropping by more than half since 2018. For almost two decades, a steady stream of visitors sparked a boom in tourism, only for the COVID-19 pandemic and severe blackouts to hit, coupled with increased U.S. sanctions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, Cubans whose livelihood depends on tourism are among those suffering the most as the island braces for what experts warn could be a catastrophic economic crisis following a disruption in oil shipments from Venezuela after the U.S. attacked the South American country<\/a> and arrested its president.<\/p>\n The situation is already acute for Rosbel Figueredo Ricardo, 30, who sells a popular Cuban street food known as \u201cchivirico,\u201d fried flour chips sprinkled with sugar.<\/p>\n He used to load 150 bags of chips every morning onto a plastic tray he balances on his shoulder and sell out by late afternoon. Nowadays, he only loads 50 bags a day, works from dawn until nighttime and sometimes doesn\u2019t sell a single bag.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a mid-level industrial mechanical technician, and look at me here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Figueredo has a partner and three children, with a fourth one on the way, so he frets.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is our day-to-day, so we can eat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n On a recent afternoon, unable to find any tourists near Havana\u2019s famed seawall, he walked toward the Spanish embassy, hoping that some of the dozens of Cubans who line up daily seeking a visa to leave the island will buy from him.<\/p>\n For decades, tourism generated up to $3 billion a year for Cuba.<\/p>\n Visitors would pack into restaurants, crowd along Havana\u2019s seawall and gather at imposing monuments and state buildings. The constant flow of passengers boosted employment and led to the opening of hundreds of small businesses<\/a> including hostels and restaurants.<\/p>\n Nowadays, the seawall is dotted mostly with Cuban couples or fishermen hoping to catch their next meal.<\/p>\n Nearby, tablecloths at empty seaside restaurants flutter in the wind while employees clutch menus and scan the horizon for customers that never arrive.<\/p>\n Some 2.3 million tourists visited Cuba from January to November 2025, significantly lower than the 4.8 million in 2018 and the 4.2 million in 2019, before the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n Some Cubans worry that growing tensions between the U.S. and Cuba, cuts in water and power supply and large piles of garbage in popular tourist areas have spooked visitors.<\/p>\n The dramatic drop in tourists hits especially hard because U.S. sanctions stripped Cuba of nearly $8 billion in revenue from March 2024 to February 2025, a loss that is nearly 50% higher compared with the previous period, according to government statistics.<\/p>\n On a recent afternoon, only three people boarded a double-decker tourism bus driven by Gaspar Biart.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been driving for 16 years and recalled with a small smile how crowded buses would get.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a huge change,\u201d he said, noting that sanctions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> have closed Cuba\u2019s doors. \u201cWe can\u2019t even breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n When tourism was booming and petroleum was flowing, eight double-decker sightseeing buses would make three trips a day across Havana. Now, there are only four, and most are largely empty when they take off, Biart said<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re missing are customers,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what all Cubans want\u2026Tourism is a driving force for a country\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Long lines used to form near the rows of classic cars awaiting passengers. There was so much demand that sometimes tourists would have to take whatever car was available, not the make and model they preferred.<\/p>\n Aldama, who drives a classic car, recalled how he would sometimes work until 9 p.m. Nowadays, he\u2019s lucky if he takes one or two tourists for a spin in a day.<\/p>\n He blames Trump, who in June 2019 banned cruise ships from visiting Cuba<\/a>, one of the most popular forms of travel to the island.<\/p>\n That led to what Aldama described as \u201ca brutal drop\u201d in tourists that he says has worsened in the past six months.<\/p>\n He used to charge $50 for a drive around the capital. Now, given the lack of demand, he has lowered his price to $25 and even $20 if a tourist insists on bartering.<\/p>\n \u201cThe day that we run out of fuel, we\u2019ll stop driving and look for another job,\u201d Aldama said. \u201cThere\u2019s no other choice.\u201d<\/p>\n On a recent sunny afternoon, Vincent Seigi of Russia relaxed on a wooden bench and faced the deep blue sea and Cuba\u2019s imposing Morro Castle built during the colonial era.<\/p>\n He scraped the white fleshy meat off several coconuts along with two friends.<\/p>\n He had only been in Cuba for two days.<\/p>\n \u201cI expected it to be a little bit chaotic, not so maybe tourist friendly because of the complicated economic situation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like time is a bit stopped here.\u201d<\/p>\n Seigi said he wasn\u2019t worried about the chronic blackouts and garbage galore but said it was strange not having a mobile connection.<\/p>\n He worried that what he was observing in Cuba could soon happen in Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPolitics is not great, to say it lightly,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have many sanctions already because of political craziness.\u201d<\/p>\n With Venezuela, Cuba\u2019s strongest political and economic ally vanished for now, some wonder whether China or Russia would step in.<\/p>\n \u201cI think our country now is only able to provide rhetorical help,\u201d he said, like making statements that the U.S. is bad for Cuba. He added that he doesn\u2019t believe Russia has any resources to offer and that it\u2019s struggling already to win the war against Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seigi said it felt like some Cubans were desperate to make money off tourists, with some selling expensive cigars claiming they came from a festival sponsored by former President Ra\u00fal Castro. \u201cSo many poor people, sadly,\u201d he said<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Brazilian tourist Gloraci Passos de Carvalho, a teacher, said she had long been curious about Cuba\u2019s political and educational system and was not spooked by the island\u2019s deepening crisis or the ongoing tensions with the U.S.<\/p>\n She said she was struck by Cuba\u2019s welcoming atmosphere, architecture, but above all, its resilience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lesson for people, to survive with less,\u201d she said. \u201cIn Brazil we call it making lemonade out of lemons\u2026So I see it in that sense, I see it in a positive light.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n