You guys need to hear this because what we're seeing with Cuban tourism is massive even if you don't follow Caribbean politics at all. Foreign visitor numbers are down more than half compared to last year, which officials in Havana say makes it worse than any prior downturn — that alone tells you how bad the damage estimate is. They've explicitly blamed US sanctions and an oil blockade for creating a hostile environment that actively scares away visitors rather than just hurting local businesses. The real mechanism is practical: American banks won't process Cuban cards or transactions, so U.S. companies can't accept payments from Cuba — meaning tourism money literally cannot enter the system through standard channels. Major cruise lines have already folded under this pressure too; Carnival stopped docking in Havana years ago, MSC pulled out after US pushback, and TUI Cruises withdrew as well, stripping away a massive revenue pillar for Cuban resorts. The State Travel Service has filed an official report blaming "hostile policy" rather than economic factors, which the government is leveraging to call attention to how these restrictions have crippled their primary service sector. It's one of those rare cases where you can see exactly who and what is being harmed by sanctions in a single story — and it paints a picture far more complicated than any campaign rhetoric does.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg8zrm20jjo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss