Cuba attends fair in Shanghai to attract Chinese tourists in the midst of discouraging figures

The Tourism Plus Shanghai 2025 fair opened its doors this Sunday with the participation of 6,000 exhibitors from more than 140 countries and regions, including Cuba.

The assistance of the island’s delegation to the mega event of the Asian country is another attempt by the Cuban regime to revive some of its main sources of income.

Last year, Cuba announced the exemption of visas for Chinese citizens and an increase in aerial connections. According to the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur), these measures will have a multiplier effect on tourist numbers visiting the island.

The 2024 figures were discouraging for the communist authorities of Cuba, registering a fall of more than 10% compared to the previous year. The main sources of Cuban tourism in 2024 were Canada, the US and Russia. The number of Chinese tourists did not enter among the first 10 nationalities that visited the Caribbean island last year.

While Russia plays the tourist role that the Soviet Union before had, descents are notable in the main issuing markets.

The tendency to reduce tourist numbers visiting Cuba is still striking. So far from 2025, tourist reduction is recorded by almost 30% less foreign visits, compared to the previous year.

The cancellation of flights and repeated disconnections of the national electrical system have been the main reasons stated by the Havana government for this fall.

The energy crisis is especially serious and the main symptom due to the decay of the 2025 numbers. Hotels are operating in half their capacity and moving guests due to the lack of electricity throughout the country.