HAVANA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Cuba received 794,492 travelers in the first seven months of this year, down 49.8 percent year on year, amid intensifying U.S. economic and financial sanctions, the National Office of Statistics and Information said Tuesday.
The figure, which included Cubans residing abroad, was 787,773 fewer travelers than in the January-July period last year, the office said.
Of the total, 419,863 were international visitors, representing 37.2 percent of the level recorded during the same period last year.
Tourism had been Cuba's second-largest source of foreign currency after medical service exports, with a record more than 4.6 million vacationers visiting the country in 2024.
The sector's crisis has included hotel closures, flight cancellations, fuel shortages, massive blackouts and U.S. sanctions affecting those who visit the island.
Cuba has also faced a decline in cruise tourism and difficulties in fuel supply, which have affected the regularity of international flights.
The situation has been compounded by unilateral measures from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, including Cuba's inclusion on Washington's list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism and the continued expansion of sanctions against Cuban entities.
Cuba has been under a U.S. economic, financial and commercial blockade for more than six decades, which Havana says was tightened under the Trump administration with more than 240 additional measures affecting the Cuban economy. ■
