U.S. Sanctions Stymie Expedia, Airbnb in Cuba

The owner of a rental house in Central Havana received an email from Expedia advising that the company will stop accepting bookings to Cuba. The email explained that Expedia’s U.S. licence to operate on the island expired last month and the Trump administration “has indicated” the licence “will not be renewed.”

“Effective April 30, 2025, your property will be placed on a stop-sell status and will no longer be visible to travelers on any of Expedia Group’s websites worldwide,” the email reads.

Many private hotels and bed and breakfasts offered their rooms on Expedia. A May 3 search on the company’s website showed no way of finding lodging in Cuba.

Expedia is under pressure not just from the Trump administration, but also the courts.

A Miami jury last month found Expedia and three of its subsidiaries liable for $30 million under Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. claimants whose property was nationalized during the Cuban Revolution to sue companies for doing business on that property.

The beneficiary is Cuban-American Mario Echevarría, who claims his family owned Cayo Coco, an island off Cuba’s northern coast where Expedia booked rooms.

The defendants have filed a motion asking the judge to overturn the jury’s verdict. In response, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno has asked Echevarría to answer a series of questions, including the calculation of damages, the differences in liability of each of the defendants, and “specific evidence showing exactly the proof of transfer of original ownership of Cayo Coco from the crown of Spain.”

He scheduled oral arguments on the motion for the week of August 25.

For more on Title III and the lobbying campaign that moved Trump to implement the controversial law, read our article Billboards and Backchannels.

Airbnb cuts off Cuban hosts

Many Cuban hosts using Airbnb have been unable to rent their rooms or book experiences since February, when the company “paused” operations in Cuba. According to several hosts, Airbnb is demanding all their Cuba listings receive payment abroad or remain suspended.

The move could be connected to the February inclusion of Orbit, the Cuban state-run company that handled Western Union remittances, on a U.S. government list of “restricted entities” that are off limits to U.S. businesses and individuals.

Airbnb has not confirmed the reason for the pause on Cuba listings, but a host for several “Experiences” in Havana told Belly of the Beast on condition of anonymity that she thinks the two are connected: “I’d be surprised if it wasn’t because of Orbit. It’s too big of a coincidence.”

She said her Experiences were suspended “without prior notice” in late February. She was later told to try changing the way she receives payments. She  switched her payment method to a foreign bank, but her Experiences have remained suspended.

“If you go to Airbnb, there are just a few Cuba Experiences available,” she said. “These are the ones that already relied on foreign cards to receive payments. I’ve had to reinvent myself to remain afloat. Cuba has meant a lot for Airbnb, and Airbnb has been essential for us. This is very disappointing.”

See more about Airbnb, the Obama years and the impact of sanctions on Cuba’s private sector HERE.