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When US President Barack Obama descended from Air Force One on Cuban soil in 2016, he represented among around 4 million visitors to the nation during that period.

An unprecedented peak back then, the country's visitor numbers continued to grow up to a high-water mark of nearly five million visitors two years later.

From that point, though, the fall in the island's tourism has been precipitous.

Battered by the dual impact of the coronavirus pandemic and harsher tourism limits imposed by the previous US government, the previous year stood as one of Cuba's weakest for the industry this century.

With the nation's longstanding sectors – namely sugar, cigars and minerals – in the doldrums, the travel sector serves as Cuba's main means of foreign currency income after money sent from abroad.

Fewer tourists, therefore, translates to less money in the state coffers to allocate in the country's crumbling power grid, or to spend on essential basic foods and medicine.

Traditional allies – Caracas and Russia – confront significant economic challenges of their own, and while Beijing has funded several solar power projects, the Chinese government is preoccupied with larger geopolitical issues.

Today, Cuba faces its most severe economic crisis since the Cold War.

"Conceptually, tourism remains the nation's economic locomotive," explains the Cuban tourism minister, the minister.

Within the capital, journalists asks the man at the wheel of that economic motor about the sector's present condition:

"Well, I'm no physician," the minister remarks wryly, "however, I assure you that Cuban tourism remains vibrant."

He claims that the Cuban government has halted the slide observed in 2024, and that the next quarter of this year will demonstrate better statistics.

"We face challenges that our competitors face," the official continues.

"The intensity and the stress from an financial conflict launched by the world's main source of tourists, the US, has prevented Cuban tourism from reaching pre-COVID levels."

Mentioning the six decades-long American trade restrictions on the island, the minister says actions implemented by the US government since President Trump's first term in power in that year have been specifically designed to hurt Cuba's tourist trade.

"During his initial presidency, they took 263 steps [targeting Cuba], most aimed at destroying Cuban tourism."

In particular, he highlights a prohibition on US cruise ship operators from docking in Cuban ports.

"Without that, we might have welcomed another one-million annual visitors," the official calculates.

A stricter measure came in January 2021 when the US again included Cuba on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT). President Biden removed Cuba off the list in early this year, but Trump to relist it just days later as he began his second term.

This label has a knock-on effect: UK and certain European travelers who traveled to the island after 12 January 2021 cannot qualify for an ESTA (the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) to enter the United States.

Considering the headaches for those travellers – who find themselves facing a lengthier, more complex American visa procedure – many potential British tourists have been discouraged from traveling to Cuba entirely.

"Many of UK visitors have to travel to Cuba through Madrid, via France, others even through Canada. But not through Miami. Explain to me the reason a British citizen, entirely independent, cannot fly to Cuba through Miami?" García Granda questions pointedly.

Yet some the decisions impacting the state of the travel sector were made by the US. Throughout the Obama-era thaw, the Cuban government instigated an ambitious hotel-construction programme in Havana and the key coastal destination, Varadero.

In the capital alone, at least half a dozen new luxury hotels have been erected to the tune of hundreds of millions of USD. The latest, referred to as the K Tower, stands as the tallest building on the nation, its massive structure towering over the Vedado area of the Cuban capital.

"There are plenty of other hotels in the city and it clashes with its surroundings," says student Danais, speaking in the square opposite. "I would have allocated the funds for other ends, for things we truly require like dealing with the blackouts."

"It doesn't respect its urban context," agrees another student, who studies design. "As an architect, I note some favorable and negative aspects, and it is definitely among the most impressive structures in the nation.

"But it shouldn't have been this luxurious and lavish, especially with so many lodgings in the urban area lying empty."

I put those points to the travel official, noting the majority of Cubans do not view the Torre K as a monument to the nation's creativity and progress, but rather as a symbol of poor central planning and the authorities' failure to address the urgent needs of its people.

The minister acknowledges that the building faces criticism, but contends that many residents, especially those who work there, value the recent construction to the Havana skyline.

Still, Cuba's building initiative prompts a key issue over whether Cuba was given false hopes by the Obama administration – promised a future of warmer political ties and a steady flow of American tourists which never materialised.

Did the authorities guilty of not preparing for shifting political winds, or is Washington to blame for implementing a foreign policy which was not sufficiently robust or durable to endure from a presidency to the following?

As expected, the official insists that the island's travel plan did not rely on flawed preparation.

"A gap" in hotel provision in Cuba was revealed "during the period of engagement, which demonstrated the need for additional lodging in Havana," he states. Furthermore, he adds, the expenses have not solely been borne by the Cuban state.

"More than 70% of Cuban tourism relies on