The Trump administration announcement banning cruise ship operations from the US to Cuba and eliminating 'people-to-people' educational travel for Americans has jolted travelers and the travel industry. Here's what we know about the decision's impacts.
Travel to Cuba got more difficult -- and more confusing -- this week for Americans and travelers under US jurisdiction.
If there was a problem, it was that Cuba's outdated ports didn't have enough room for all the US ships. In May, Cuba said more than 140,000 US citizens had already visited the island in 2019 aboard cruises.Then on Tuesday the Trump administration told US cruise lines they had a little more than one day to reroute or get their ships out of Cuba.
The Obama administration allowed 12 categories of legal travel. People-to-people trips, which emphasized creating direct contact with the Cuban people through cultural activities, were the most popular. Some frequent Cuba travelers feel the support for the Cuban people category is broad enough to allow most US citizens to travel to the island provided they stay in Airbnbs and eat atBut the bottom line is the Trump administration wants to limit US travel to Cuba and the economic benefits that US visitors provide to the Cuban government.
A lot of Americans will find all these regulations confusing and simply decide not to go to Cuba, which is the outcome some officials in the Trump administration were clearly hoping for.During the 2016 presidential race, then candidate Donald Trump argued he would have done a better job negotiating the restoration of relations with Cuba than Obama, but Trump said that he essentially agreed with the new policy.
Cuba is one of the few countries still supporting Maduro. Increasingly, officials in the Trump administration say they need to pressure Cuba with sanctions in order to force Maduro out.The Trump administration says too much of the money spent by American visitors goes to the Cuban government.
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