International travel company shuts down in bankruptcy, travelers stranded | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

The last months of 2025 brought with them a number of high-profile airline bankruptcies, and travel companies that sell various holiday packages and tours are having an even tougher time in the current economy.

In the United Kingdom, tour operators Great Little Escapes and Jetline both shut down operations within a few weeks of each summer in July 2025, while Hampshire-based competitor New Era Travel followed with liquidation proceedings in November.

In Iceland, tour company Tango Travel was left incapacitated by the earlier bankruptcy of Play Airlines. Swedish travel company MixxTravel and French cruise operator Expedis Exploration were among the tour operators to leave travelers stranded in different parts of the world amid sudden shutdowns.

Main tour package seller for Cuba Havanatur shutters France office after 48 years

While American travel numbers to the Caribbean nation of Cuba remain low due to the longstanding rupture in diplomatic relations between the two countries, the tour operator Havanatur has been selling tour packages into the country to travelers from other nations since 1978.

The state-owned travel agency, established under the official and much longer name of The International Group of Tour Operators and Cuban Travel Agencies, sold tours to cities like Havana and Varadero to citizens of countries including France, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

But as first reported by French outlet Le Figaro, Havanatur lost its insurance contract with global insurer Hiscox on Jan. 1, and without a license to operate in France, ended up shutting down its French office.

The closure of the office, which had processed tours for customers throughout Europe, left travel agents who booked packages through the company scrambling to find alternative options for their clients.

“Holidays already sold for 2026 are being canceled, forcing agencies to reschedule these trips with other tour operators or to reimburse their clients,” Le Figaro reports.

“For the latter, the financial impact remains limited: the Professional Association for Tourism Solidarity (APST), which guarantees travel for its member agencies, is handling the reimbursement or replacement of cancelled holidays.”

Travelers who were halfway through a holiday when the company shut down were generally able to finish it and return home.

After losing its key ally of Venezuela, the Cuban economy remains in a particularly precarious position.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

What is going on in Cuba? Dwindling tourism numbers and an economy in crisis

Havanatur’s office closure in France comes as Cuba grapples with an economic crisis and steep decline in tourist numbers. The situation is only expected to worsen amid heightened tensions and President Donald Trump’s threats toward its leadership, reported by Axios.

The country’s economy has been shrinking at a rate of approximately 1.5% per year for the last half-decade. After U.S. forces removed Venezuelan President Nicólas Maduro, the smaller country sanctioned by the U.S. also lost its main political and economic ally.

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Although Cuba saw over 4.7 million international visitors in 2018, that number fell to 1.9 million in 2025, according to Universidad de Navarra.

During his final weeks in the White House, former President Joseph Biden briefly eased restrictions on Cuban travel, but these efforts were subsequently struck down by the Trump administration in January 2025.