Meliá leaves Cuba: end of an era in 2026
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Meliá Hotels International will cease operations in Cuba as of July 24, 2026. The move, carried out through its subsidiary Ilha Bela Gestao e Turismo, means dropping management of 15 hotels on the island. According to Hosteltur, the reasons are operational difficulties and especially the impact of U.S. sanctions on Cuba's Ministry of Tourism.
Cuba's tourism picture is grim. Between January and April 2026, the island received just 328,608 visitors, a 55.8% drop from the same period last year. The U.S. executive order has tightened the screws, and Meliá could no longer sustain a management model that was already stretched thin.
In my view, this is a turning point for the Caribbean. Cuba loses its last major international hotel operator, and Meliá sheds a burden it has carried for years. Who fills the gap? Hard to see a big U.S. chain stepping in, and Europeans will think twice. For the travel pro, this reshuffles the destination map: hotels likely go to state management or operators from Russia or China. The play is to track those new players and reposition offers toward the Med or Southeast Asia.
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