Tourism has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. In 2020, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimated that the effects of COVID-19 on global tourism would be greater than those sparked by the 2008 financial crisis: between 100-120 million jobs at stake; billion-dollar losses in tourism exports; and a 1.5% – 2.8% drop of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a United Nations (UN) report.
By the end of December 2020, Cuba had experienced a 74.6% drop in international visitors compared to those that came in 2019. By February 2021, there had been a 95.5% drop compared to numbers in January and February the previous year.