Cuba reports 73% of hotels closed as tourism collapses

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced on Wednesday that nearly three-quarters of the island's hotels have been shut, with the tourism sector experiencing "almost total paralysis" due to US sanctions and fuel shortages. For the first time, Havana detailed the scale of the industry collapse, revealing that seven international chains—responsible for about half of all hotel rooms—have left Cuba. Tourism, once the country's second-largest source of foreign currency and employing over 300,000 people, has been devastated. Approximately 25,000 workers are now "in a vulnerable situation." Old Havana's streets, previously crowded with tourists, are now quiet. The crisis deepened after Havana declared an aviation fuel shortage in February, prompting Canadian, Russian, and European airlines to suspend flights to the island.