Cuba is courting foreign investment to revitalise a tourism sector in freefall.
The island government is pitching idle hotels, empty cruise terminals and untapped coastline to international investors, including a UAE family business with ambitions to build a Trump-branded resort.
The backdrop is a Cuban government in an increasingly urgent search for foreign capital.
During a recent visit to Havana, a host of international tourism and hotel investors attended a formal investment presentation hosted by Cuba's state hotel groups which was attended by The National, where senior tourism officials laid out the country's assets to a small group of international investors.
Calling investors
The pitch was striking in its frankness. Officials described how Cuba's cruise terminals are now entirely empty, a direct consequence, they acknowledged, of a ban by US President Donald Trump during his first presidential term on cruise ships departing from the US and docking in the country.
Cuba has 18 international airports and 10 international marinas, officials noted, but the infrastructure sits largely idle. Hotel groups including Cubanacan, one of the island's largest, presented dozens of properties available for management contracts, leasing or joint investment, ranging from boutique heritage hotels to beach resorts with capacity for up to 3,000 rooms. Officials also revealed they have been marketing real estate developments in Gulf countries.
Among the investors exploring opportunities is Ali bin Haidar, chairman of Dubai-based family business Abdulla Ali bin Haidar Group, a well-established, mid-sized private conglomerate with a longstanding presence in the UAE's real estate, trading and investment sectors, who signed a letter of intent with the Cuban government for land on Santa Maria Island, east of Havana, where it hopes to build a luxury tourism complex. If negotiations succeed with the Trump Organisation, it will be named Trump Island.
Mr bin Haidar, described the government's eagerness as striking. “Instead of one minister, they brought 10,” he said. He contrasted this with what he sees as the underlying tragedy of the sanctions. “Who can stay under lockdown for 50 years?”
The UAE and Cuba established diplomatic relations in 2002 and announced expansions in co-operation in trade and investment about 11 years later in areas of renewable energy, food production and tourism.
The two countries held their first Joint Economic Committee in July last year to enhance co-operation in a variety of sectors.
Both sides agreed to promote and enable increased trade flows and investment opportunities in areas including biotechnology, health care, renewable energy, agriculture and tourism, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism.
Relations between the two nations continue to develop with non-oil foreign trade seeing a 5.6 per cent growth in the first quarter of last year. UAE-Cuba trade passed $39.1 million in 2024.
In need of funds
As officials make appeals to investors, the many Cubans working in the country's tourism industry are hoping for change.
Camila Garcia Pego, who works in marketing and communications at AzuuucA travel agency, said that Cuba has a lot to offer travellers.
"The people are amazing - everyone is so kind, and so welcoming to everyone," she told The National. "I don't think there's any other place in the world where you can show up anywhere, be welcomed in the kindest way possible."
She noted that the pandemic caused the industry to bottom out, and while there has been some rebound, the last several months have been particularly challenging.
"I think a lot of people are hesitant to come to Cuba, with a lot of the international things that are going on," Ms Garcia Pego said. "It feels like we're going against something that's a lot bigger than us."
The numbers behind Cuba's tourism crisis are stark. The island welcomed 4.2 million visitors in 2019. By last year, that figure had collapsed to 1.8 million, down 17.8 per cent year-on-year, one of the lowest levels in more than two decades excluding the pandemic years, according to UPI, citing official figures from Cuba's National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
For tourism operators, the downturn is compounded by mounting operational pressures. Caridad Morales, host of the Elvira Mi Amor hotel in Havana, said there are persistent challenges with "water and electricity supply, which are crucial for operations".
She added that "new sanctions have restricted digital payments, making it difficult to accept payments". The cost of goods has also surged, with "breakfast ingredients like eggs and coffee becoming 50 per cent more expensive since January". Occupancy has fallen sharply, with "only 3 out of 11 rooms occupied this month compared to last year". Despite the difficulties, Ms Morales said she remains hopeful for change and survival.
Ricardo Perez, a professor of economics at American University who has studied Cuba's economy closely, says the crisis long predates the latest round of US pressure.
“The pandemic affected Cuba a lot because it killed tourism for two years,” Prof Perez said. “It never recovered from the pandemic. There's been some growth, but it's been minimal. In 2025, Cuba received less than half of the tourists that it got in 2019.”
Julio Hernandez Fernandez, an artisan who sells his wares at a souvenir market in Havana, said he could count on his hands how many tourists he sees in a day.
"It's lamentable, the conditions that everyone is in," he said. "And obviously, tourists don't like to come to a country with such a high level of deterioration.
Still, Cubans in the industry are working towards a moment when travellers will return. "You have to have hope," Mr Hernandez Fernandez said. "We can't lose faith in that there will be a change, that things will improve."
Lyding Rodriguez Fuentes, expert travel adviser with AzuuucA, highlighted new initiatives to welcome clients from a range of countries, cultures and backgrounds. She said her company was compiling a list of activities and venues that would particularly appeal to Muslim travellers, including halal dining options.
Moving forward, Havana sees Gulf investors as a natural partner and is seeking engagement from the region's tourism and real estate sector.
“We are open to bring the logistics and the tourist sector developers and managers from the most important companies,” Norberto Carrillo, Cuba's ambassador to the UAE, said. Mr Trump's business background made dialogue possible, he added.
“He's a businessman, and his family used to have businesses and investment all around the world related to tourism services, entertainment. We don't see any obstacles to talk with them about business.”
In regard to bin Haidar Group's Trump Island concept, Mr Perez says it will get Mr Trump's attention for sure "but [I] do not see the US settling [on sanctions] for a minor gift of that type".
A bet on the embargo lifting
It is against this backdrop that Mr bin Haidar has moved. His company, the Abdulla Ali bin Haidar Group, has signed a letter of intent with the Cuban government for land on Santa Maria Island, east of Havana, where it plans to build a luxury tourism complex.
If negotiations succeed, it will be named Trump Island. The group's wager is rooted in a single conviction: that Washington's embargo on the island cannot last. During the administration of former US president Barack Obama, about 4.5 million American tourists a year visited Cuba. Today, that flow has stopped.
“The embargo on Cuba will be eased sooner or later,” Mr bin Haidar said. “The world is opening up to each other.”
His strategy is to be ready, with agreements signed, drawings complete and relationships established, so that when the political moment comes he is not starting from scratch. He has been in business 41 years, trading through the 2008 financial crisis and Covid. Being early is the point, he said.
The concept of a Trump-branded project for the developer did not originate in Cuba. It was first developed with Egypt in mind more than six years ago, including the aspiration to attach the Trump name. When an opening emerged in Cuba, where the group already operates a trading company, the vision was carried over.
The Trump question
Mr bin Haidar confirmed that his team has approached the Trump Organisation about naming rights for the project.
Internal concept documents prepared for “preliminary US-side discussions” shared with The National show early renderings of twin gold-domed towers bearing the name of Mr Trump. No agreement has been reached. “We spoke with the Trump office, and they were receptive,” Mr bin Haidar said. “We presented the idea, but it has not yet been approved by the American side.”
The National contacted the Trump Organisation about the offer but no reply was made by the time the report was published.
Cayo Santa Maria is a 16km strip of white, sandy beaches off the northern coast of Cuba, connected to the mainland by a 48km causeway. Known locally as the “White Rose of the King's Gardens”, it only opened to tourism in the 1990s and has since developed into one of Cuba's premier resort destinations, home to international hotel chains including Melia, Iberostar and Banyan Tree.
It is also part of the Unesco-recognised Buena Vista Biosphere Reserve. Mr bin Haidar's concept would add a far more ambitious layer to that development.
Phase one is described as an “integrated destination concept beyond a single hotel asset”, built around a landmark identity, luxury experience and offering lifestyle amenities. A resort core, landmark tower and grand public arrival experience form the main components.
Mr bin Haidar said construction could begin before the end of the year if approvals are secured. No budget has been fixed. “We haven't allocated a specific amount for the project until we see the matter,” he said. Cuban workers and engineers would provide the workforce, with specialist supervisors brought from abroad.
The concept documents are careful throughout. Trump Island is described as a “naming option under review”, and every page stresses that no brand approval, trademark authorisation or commercial relationship with the Trump Organisation has been established.
“If God grants us success, all the best. If not, we'll pursue other lucrative opportunities with them (Cuba),” Mr bin Haidar said.
Cuba, he believes, is simply too compelling to pass up. “I think Thailand gets 50 million tourists a year. Cuba doesn't have tourists.”
Santa Maria Island, turquoise water, white sand and a gold-domed tower that exists only in a render, remains a vision waiting on Washington.
