New travel policy changes released by the White House in January have a huge impact on the educational travel world. The Obama administration announced changes to travel regulations to to Cuba in mid-January after over ten years of restrictions.

After more than 10 years of strict restrictions, the Obama administration announced revisions to the travel regulations. The new changes allow “purposeful travel” to the island country. These policy revisions have great implications for educational travel.

“People are eager to begin exploring a country that has been off-limits for so long. Many want to see Cuba now – anticipating great changes in the country. Having had the privilege of visiting Cuba many times, I know that these feelings are justified. Things are changing very rapidly there, but it is still one of the most provocative and interesting destinations I have visited. While we hope Cuba will soon be open to any traveler, the upside to the new policies not having gone further is that it will increase the flow of people without totally overwhelming the tourism infrastructure,” Holbrook was reported as saying. “We really applaud this move to further open travel to Cuba. An open dialogue and exchange of ideas is vital to increasing understanding between Cubans and Americans.”