Thousands of now-state-run restaurants in Cuba will move into the private sector and be run by citizen owners , the island nation 's government announced Friday . The Cuban Domestic Trade department put the number eateries being privatized at 9,0000 -- compared with 1,261 private family-run restaurants already operating . The state will still own the land the restaurants sit on . This is not the Cuban government 's first step towards a more private economy for Cuba . Self-employment including the creation of privately owned `` paladares '' was first authorized in 1993 . Moreover , in May 2011 , President Raul Castro 's government announced a new reform plan that shifted toward the free market and announced that some state-owned businesses such as barbershops or beauty shops would become private . `` In order to lift the economy , the Cuban government took the decision to get out of businesses they have been running badly for the last 50 years , '' Philip Peters , president of the Cuban Research Center , a Washington-based analysis organization told CNN Friday . The privately owned restaurants already in business in Cuba `` offer interesting new dishes and they are doing very well , '' according to Tomas Bilbao , executive director of the Cuba Study Group . `` Cuban entrepreneurs can now buy these ( newly privatized ) places from the government and negotiate the price , '' he told CNN . `` They will also have to pay taxes and social security . `` The benefit of buying one of these state owned restaurant is the location , the reputation and the utensils available that may be hard to find in Cuba , '' Bilbao said . The Cuban government had previously said that it would get out of the restaurant business , and Friday 's announcement is `` part of the updating of the economic social model , '' said Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade Ada Chavez . Cuba 's Domestic Trade department said that the government was seeking to expand `` services with quality and safety that the Cuban people and tourists visiting the island deserve . '' According to the Cuban National Statistics office , Cuba hosted around 2.8 million tourists in 2012 , and private restaurants are very important to the development of the tourism industry . `` For many people who visit Cuba , these restaurants are part of the attraction , '' said Peters . `` It is a socialist economy , it 's going to stay a socialist economy but with a much bigger private sector in it . ''
The restaurants had been government - owned , as are many businesses in Cuba . By being privately owned , the restaurants will better attract tourists , an analyst says . Some restaurants in the island area already are privately owned . They ` ` some interesting new dishes and they are doing very well , '' the analyst says .