By Michael Baginski/ It’s been quite a time for Cuba: blackouts, hurricane, mosquitos, and now Donald Trump, the latter vowing this week to cut off Cuba’s oil supply from Venezuela (amongst other vague threats) in a bid to damage the country’s economy.
However, Cuba is “resilient,” says Lessner Gomez, Cuba’s marketing director for the ministry of tourism, who returned to Toronto Wednesday (where he recently ended his term as director of the Cuba Tourist Board in Canada in November), for impromptu trade meetings no doubt spurred by the comments of the U.S. president, who said in social media Sunday that Cuba has long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return.
“BUT NOT ANYMORE!” he ranted. “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
Joking that he hadn’t expected to be back in Canada so soon, Havana-based Gomez – who also visited Montreal with several Cuba tourism colleagues – said the mission was mainly to thank the destination’s No. 1 market, including tourism partners, travel advisors, trade media, and travellers in general at a time when “we need all the help we can get.”
On Trump’s assertion, Lessner assured Canadians – and the trade – that Cuba still has plenty of oil for now and the future and that its suppliers extend beyond Venezuela. Moreover, he said, the Cuba ministry of tourism has sent letters to Canadian airlines assuring them that the country has enough oil to support and protect their operations.
He said Cuban hotels and resorts are similarly stocked and prepared for the future, including having now-sanctioned relationships private suppliers to help meet their needs.
Cuban resort regions (like Varadero and the Cayos) and hotels are similarly protected with separate power grids and their own generators in the face of the island’s widely reported blackout issues.
As for mosquitos, the Cuban government says it implementation of comprehensive prevention and control measures across the country has shown a significant downward trend in arbovirus cases in the destination, including dengue, chikungunya, and Oropouche.
According to the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), national surveillance systems indicate a consistent reduction in reported cases in recent weeks, with a particularly notable decline observed during the final week of December.
All in all, Lessner, declares that Cuba is safe and “open for business.”
Canada
Despite its PR challenges, the tourist board is forecasting growth from Canadian visitors in 2026, up significantly from 2025. To date in January, YOY visitations from Canada have increased 17%, he says.
Earlier in the day at a Travel Leaders Network press gathering, Canada VP Christine James ranked Cuba as one of the organization’s top three sun destinations out of Canada and said Canadians were showing no sign of abandoning the long-time favourite.
“Cuba has always been a mainstay and remains in our top three from Canada,” she said, adding there is seemingly no reluctance to book the destination in the current climate.
Moreover, she said, “I’ve checked with our top suppliers and they’re saying not too many cancellations. And at this point, they’re not offering any flexible booking options to shift from Cuba, which clearly if there was a major issue, they would be doing that… Canadians still love Cuba.”
Lessner readily agrees, hailing the deep relationship between Cuba and Canada, which is celebrating 80 years in 2026, and which includes significant business connectivity as well as tourism.
To that end, he says all the major tourist destinations in the country will be holding special Canadian celebrations in their main plazas every Thursday throughout the year, with local hotels and destinations putting on a fiesta-style party with food, drinks, music, and more.
The tourism industry will also continue to develop and evolve, he maintains.
For example, “Canadians don’t always know that Cuba can deliver luxury,” he says, citing special offers from hotels like Gaviotta.
There are also new family programs and a splash park in Santa Maria.
Moreover, Cuba easy to get to, with the tourist board’s Nieves Ricardo joking that it is quicker for Torontonians to get Cuba than to Muskoka on a Friday night.
Despite all the hyperbole in social and mainstream media, Lessner believes “Canadians are savvy about Cuba, they know what it’s all about”– and not least because of the large number of Canadian travel advisors who are well educated about the destination.
But most of all, he says simply, “Canadians love Cuba – and Cubans love Canadians.”
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