Tourism Effects on Restaurant Food Sourcing in Havana

As Cuba pursues increased development and economic growth, they are targeting tourism to elevate their GDP. However, an unfortunate consequence of this growth in tourism is an increased demand for local goods in already... [ view full abstract ]

As Cuba pursues increased development and economic growth, they are targeting tourism to elevate their GDP. However, an unfortunate consequence of this growth in tourism is an increased demand for local goods in already strained markets.  In a country plagued by a widespread scarcity of basic food items, this leads to competition between private citizens and paladares (private restaurants).  Interested in how this competition is affecting food sourcing by paladares, I spent two months in Havana last summer interviewing a number of players and policymakers in the urban food market.  These interviews focused on how these players are orienting themselves in markets, the impacts that these actions are having, and any patterns of development in supply chains by private players.  While most paladares compete in the traditional government-mandated markets of the city, some paladares are taking advantage of new opportunities afforded by the loosening of government restrictions to establish their own supply chains.  These paladares are seeking to move away from the inherent inefficiencies of the national government distribution system to access stable supplies of high quality food products.  By investing in the local agricultural system, these paladares are forming linkages between the tourism and agricultural industries that produce a greater distribution of tourism benefits throughout society, support local, ecologically-sound agriculture, and offer greater overall stability to the urban food market.