A Winter Without Cuba: Travel Advisors Navigate a Different Winter Sun Market

For years, Cuba was the go-to destination for Canadians seeking an affordable escape from winter.

But with direct flights suspended indefinitely, travel advisors are finding themselves selling a very different kind of sun vacation – often at a considerably higher price.

As Canada’s winter travel season approaches, the absence of one of the country’s most popular vacation destinations is reshaping the sun market, sending travellers in search of alternatives across Mexico, the Dominican Republic and the wider Caribbean.

And for travel advisors, the challenge isn’t simply finding somewhere else to send their Cuba-loving clients.

It’s finding somewhere that delivers the same combination of sunshine, beautiful beaches and affordability. Which is easier said than done.

As reported by The Canadian Press on Saturday (Nov. 7), travel agencies are seeing significant shifts in booking patterns as former Cuba vacationers explore destinations they might previously have overlooked.

“There isn’t one new Cuba, if you will. Canadians, they’re really spreading their winter travel across a much wider mix of destinations and trip types,” Ashley Harold, a travel agent with Flight Centre Canada, told CP.

Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Aruba and Barbados are among the destinations benefiting from the shift, Harold said, while some Canadians are considering cruises, Costa Rica and Peru.

Canadian Market Collapses

The scale of Cuba’s tourism decline illustrates just how dramatically the Canadian winter vacation landscape has changed.

According to Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), the island welcomed just 128,400 Canadian visitors between January and August 2026, compared with 526,239 during the same period in 2025.

That’s a 75.6 per cent decline, representing nearly 398,000 fewer Canadian visitors in just eight months.

March was particularly devastating. Only 511 Canadians arrived in Cuba that month, compared with 98,663 in March 2025 — a collapse of 99.48 per cent.

The disruption began in February 2026, when Air Canada suspended its Cuba operations amid shortages of Jet A-1 aviation fuel at nine international airports across the island.

Air Transat and WestJet followed, initially leaving open the possibility of resuming flights once conditions improved.

By June, however, all three airlines had abandoned their tentative restart dates and suspended service indefinitely.

The shortages followed a U.S. oil blockade that compounded Cuba’s longstanding economic difficulties, creating widespread challenges for the country’s tourism infrastructure.

The Canadian government, meanwhile, continues to advise travellers to avoid all non-essential travel to Cuba, citing shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

The Dominican Republic Steps Up

So, where are Cuba-bound vacationers going?

For some travel agencies, the Dominican Republic appears to be a big beneficiary.

John Wood, president of Durham Travel, east of Toronto, told CP that his agency’s Cuba sales have plunged from more than $389,000 in 2025 to just $24,000 so far this year.

Meanwhile, sales to the Dominican Republic have climbed from approximately $1 million last year to nearly $1.3 million in 2026.

“The Dominican Republic appears to have absorbed most of the difference from Cuba,” Wood said, mentioning travellers’ concerns about crime and sargassum issues in Mexico.

As Travel Market Report Canada has reported, destinations such like Puerto Plata offer a value-driven option for clients who traditionally gravitated toward Cuba.

Mexico is still an option, too, with Sunwing Vacations’ Dave Wright, director of sales for Ontario & Atlantic Canada, recently citing Mazatlán, on the Pacific coast, as a good alternative.

Higher Prices

There’s just one problem: Cuba’s famously affordable vacation packages are difficult to replicate.

Wood told CP that many of his Cuba clients were highly price-conscious travellers who vacationed several times a year because the destination was so affordable.

“And now they can’t do that anymore,” he told the outlet.

According to Flight Centre Canada, a seven-night package at a four-star resort in Varadero, including flights from Toronto, could be purchased for less than $1,400 per person around the previous holiday season.

Comparable packages to Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are now closer to $1,800 per person.

Those higher costs could mean fewer trips, shorter stays or a change in accommodation expectations.

But this “reset” also presents an opportunity for travel advisors to demonstrate their value.

Rather than simply replacing Varadero with Punta Cana or Cancun, advisors can help clients compare destinations, resort categories, travel dates and overall vacation experiences to find the best fit for their budgets. It’s an opportunity to engage.

Is Cuba Completely Off the Menu?

Cuba hasn’t disappeared from the menu entirely, however.

While nonstop flights from Canada remain suspended, travellers can still reach the island through connecting itineraries via countries such as Mexico, Panama and the Bahamas.

Some tour operators are also finding ways to keep the destination available.

Enjoy Travel Group and Hola Sun Holidays, for example, have promoted Cuba packages using connecting flights through Mexico City, Cancun and Panama.

However, the additional travel time and lack of insurance options make a different proposition from the straightforward all-inclusive packages that once made Cuba a winter staple.

The island destination, meanwhile, is attempting to revive its struggling tourism sector.

At the beginning of summer, the Cuban government unveiled what it described as a historic package of 176 free-market reforms, aimed at attracting investment, expanding private-sector participation and restoring confidence in the tourism industry.

The measures include efforts to encourage greater foreign investment and private management of tourism businesses.

Whether those reforms can help bring Canadian travellers back in significant numbers remains uncertain, particularly without the restoration of direct air service.

For now, the winter 2026–27 season will be different for some travel advisors as conversations about value, expectations and alternatives are likely to become more important than ever.

As Harold told CP: “I think this is a great opportunity for Canadians to branch out a little bit more with their travels and experience something new.”