Cuba is becoming a destination of growing interest for Turkish tourists, who are attracted by the island’s low prices and its moderate subtropical climate with winter temperatures reaching 22ºC, helped by the five flights that Turkish Airlines operates each week to Havana.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Jorge Alberto García Domínguez, first deputy tourism minister, highlighted Turkey’s growing potential for the tourism sector in Cuba: ‘We facilitate travel for Turkish tourists through an electronic visa system, which can be obtained through authorised agencies or on arrival, through a digital system,’ he said.
‘Our main market is Canada, from where we receive more than one million visitors every year. However in 2017 Turkey marked a milestone with more than 19,000 tourists; after the pandemic we are recovering, and by 2025 we expect to reach 22,000 Turkish visitors,’ Dominguez added.
A key instrument in this growing interest of Turkish tourists in Cuba has been Turkish Airlines. The Turkish state-owned airline began direct flights to Cuba in 2017 as part of its Latin American expansion, and currently has five weekly connections to Havana during the winter season, with an average flight occupancy rate of 86%. In 2024 some 110,000 passengers flew to Cuba with Turkish Airlines, approximately 25% of them on direct flights and the rest with connections from Istanbul.
‘A country frozen in time’
Located some 11,000 kilometres from Turkey, the flight to Cuba takes about 14 hours from Istanbul to Havana’s José Martí International Airport. While the peso is Cuba’s official currency, both the US dollar and the euro are widely accepted in the country for cash payments, although much more limited for card payments. Tours to the island organised from Turkey cost about 2,500 euros for an 8-day, 7-night stay in 5-star hotels.
Most Turkish tourists travelling to Cuba are attracted by Cuba’s climate (the so-called ‘eternal summer’), with winter temperatures comfortably hovering around 22ºC. The Internet and social networks are full of videos by influencers about tours taken by Turks who travel to the Caribbean island, which they see as a ‘country frozen in time’, with that vintage style given by its classic cars – tours of Havana in these cars are one of the great tourist attractions – and the wide avenues of the Cuban capital with its colourful houses.
In addition to Havana, whose historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, another popular destination for Turkish tourists who choose Cuba as their holiday destination is Varadero, a popular resort town on the northern coast of the island famous for its beaches and all-inclusive hotels. Cuba is also an important destination for health tourism.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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