page_title: Economy of Cuba
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Cuba / Sectors / Services / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: Norsk bokmål: Stranden på Varadero
context_page_description: The economy of Cuba is a largely planned economy dominated by state-run enterprises. The government of Cuba owns and operates most industries and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the ruling Communist Party of Cuba encouraged the formation of worker co-operatives and self-employment. However, greater private property and free market rights were granted by the 2019 Constitution. It has also been acknowledged that foreign market investment in various Cuban economic sectors increased before 2019 as well.
  As of 2000, public-sector employment was 76% and private-sector employment was 23% - compared to the 1981 ratio of 91% to 8%. Investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The government sets most prices and rations goods to citizens. In 2016 Cuba ranked 68th out of 182 countries, with a Human Development Index of 0.775, much higher than its GDP per capita rank.As of 2012, the country's public debt comprised 35.3% of GDP, inflation was 5.5%, and GDP growth was 3%.
  Housing and transportation costs are low. Cubans receive government-subsidized education, healthcare and food subsidies.
context_section_description: In the mid-1990s tourism surpassed sugar, long the mainstay of the Cuban economy, as the primary source of foreign exchange. Havana devotes significant resources to building tourist facilities and renovating historic structures. Cuban officials estimate roughly 1.6 million tourists visited Cuba in 1999 yielding about $1.9 billion in gross revenues. In 2000, 1,773,986 foreign visitors arrived in Cuba. Revenue from tourism reached US$1.7 billion. By 2012, some 3 million visitors brought nearly £2 billion yearly.
  The growth of tourism has had social and economic repercussions. This led to speculation of the emergence of a two-tier economy and the fostering of a state of tourist apartheid. This situation was exacerbated by the influx of dollars during the 1990s, potentially creating a dual economy based on the dollar (the currency of tourists) on the one hand and the peso on the other. Scarce imported goods – and even some of local manufacture, such as rum and coffee – could be had at dollar-only stores, but were hard to find or unavailable at peso prices. As a result, Cubans who earned only in the peso economy, outside the tourist sector, were at a disadvantage. Those with dollar incomes based upon the service industry began to live more comfortably. This widened the gap between Cubans' material standards of living, in conflict with the Cuban Government's long term socialist policies.
caption: A white sand beach in Varadero, Cuba
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