Airbnb & Expedia Leave Cuba | How Sanctions Destroyed Cuban Tourism

In Cuba, many families survive renting rooms to tourists. These rents known as “casas particulares” create jobs & share authentic culture. But U.S. sanctions have slashed tourism & cut them off from sites like Airbnb & Expedia.

TRANSCRIPT

Since Trump's first presidency, tourism has been greatly affected. We are experiencing great uncertainty, Adriana Herrera, an Airbnb host said.

I started working with Airbnb in 2017, Teresa Álvarez, an Airbnb host expressed.

For many Cuban families, Airbnb is very important, Tamara Santiesteban, an Airbnb host, pointed out.

During Obama’s presidency, a channel for cultural and tourist exchanges was opened, which was very favorable for businesses like mine, Adriana added..

There were times when you’d try to place a guest and almost every house was fully booked, Teresa explained.

But with Trump, everything became much more difficult because of the policies he applied toward Cuba, Álvarez summarized..

Airbnb sent us an email that starting May 1, listings in Cuba would no longer be able to operate unless the hosts had a way to receive payments abroad, Teresa commented.

But in Cuba, not every family has an account overseas. We ourselves don’t have an account, she criticized.

Since Cuba was placed back on the blacklist, remittances have been prohibited. This is basically another mechanism to restrict the flow of money. Maybe it’s targeting the Cuban state, but in reality, it doesn’t hurt the state; It hurts us. This money comes from our families. I don’t own a hotel. I’m not the government.  I just have a small apartment., Tamara stated..

In Trump’s first term, he signed measures that affected us directly. Under Biden, those measures weren’t removed. Biden did absolutely nothing about them. So, we remain on the blacklist of countries accused of sponsoring terrorism, Adriana noted..

We’d be open to listing on other platforms. But we can’t, because once they see the property is in Cuba, they won’t even let you finish registering, Teresa mentioned.

Expedia was basically our only source of tourists, not just for us, but for many people we know Güido, an Expedia Bed and Breakfast host declared. 

It was our livelihood. Since February, we’ve only had one booking. We used to fill the house with Expedia. We’ve never had any problems before. Five years ago, our house wouldn’t have been empty for more than a month. That’s what is happening now, he added.

We can only assume there are new sanctions being enforced that we don’t know about, or that it has to do with Trump’s presidency, which was always focused on cracking down on this. We heard news that Expedia is facing class-action lawsuits over tourism linked to expropriated properties in Cuba. In Trump’s first administration, Booking.com pulled out. That was the first major blow.  He commented.

You live off this business, and things are going well. And suddenly, you’re left without income, Teresa conveyed. 

I have friends in the business who had to close down because their operations were smaller and the measures hit them hard, Adriana revealed.

If the little that was coming in now can’t even get through, a lot of people will be left with nothing.  It’s brutal, Tamara denounced.