Cuba opens hotel sector to Cuban investors amid foreign chain exits

Cuba’s government announced that hotels will be managed by Cuban investors, both residents and those living abroad, after several foreign hotel chains withdrew following new U.S. sanctions. Spanish chain Meliá said it will cease operations at 15 of the 34 hotels it manages, and other operators such as Iberostar and Canada‑based Royalton have limited or suspended their presence. President Miguel Díaz‑Canel told a Spanish journalist, “There will be hotels that we will have to operate more with Cuban management than with shared management with foreign entities.” The move is presented as a way to sustain tourism, which has fallen sharply – 298,000 visitors arrived in the first quarter of 2026, a 48 % drop from the same period a year earlier. The sanctions, signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, target the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces‑linked conglomerate GAESA and freeze assets of foreign companies, while also freezing the accounts of Cuban officials. In May, former President Raúl Castro was charged in a U.S. indictment over a 1996 aircraft incident. Cuba hopes the new management model will keep the sector afloat despite the embargo and declining arrivals.