In 2023, more Russians visited Cuba than before the pandemic, showing a big rise in travel from Russia. Over 185,000 Russian tourists went to Cuba in 2023.
This number was higher than the 178,000 who visited in 2019. Tour operators like Pegas Touristik helped make this happen.
They worked with Nordwind Airlines to offer trips to places like Varadero and Cayo Coco from Moscow. Anex and Intourist, other tour companies, also helped by booking these flights.
Most of these tourists, about 156,000, flew with Nordwind Airlines. Others used Rossiya Airlines or Conviasa from Venezuela.
This growth in Russian visitors is likely to stay strong in 2024. So, tour operators are planning more flights to Varadero and Cayo Coco for the summer.
These changes are part of bigger efforts by Havana and Moscow to work together in tourism. They have exclusive hotel deals for Russians and use MIR cards for payments.
In July 2023, direct flights between Russia and Cuba restarted. They used a new path that avoids European countries and a Boeing 777-300 from Rossiya, part of Aeroflot.
About 140,000 Russians visited Cuba in 2021. In 2022, this number dropped because of sanctions over the conflict in Kyiv. But Cuba still welcomed 54,383 Russian tourists.
This shows that Russia is becoming more important for tourism in Cuba.