Obama travel tips

The new year may be right around the corner, but to foresee what it might have in store for travelers, it’s useful to take a look back. Some 2017 travel industry changes were short-lived—remember the infamous laptop ban that had business travelers in a furor for a few months? But other trends from travel 2017 could have a more lasting effect.

Prior to joining the Saudi Tourism Ministry as a senior advisor , Gloria led the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) as President and CEO, having joined in 2017. WTTC represents the global travel & tourism private sector worldwide, a sector that generates 10% of GDP and accounts for 300 million jobs globally. Gloria was the global voice for the sector and, under her leadership, WTTC led the industry’s agenda during the most difficult crisis in history, the Covid19 pandemic. WTTC successfully unified the sector and implemented measures to reduce the impact such as the creation of the “Safe Travels” global protocols and a stamp that were granted to more than 400 destinations around the world. WTTC also pursued active engagement with over 150 governments to share best practices and public policies to support workers and the private sector, including millions of SMEs, in addition to providing guidelines from lessons learned to help the strong recovery.

President Joe Biden went to war against hotel resort fees and other consumer fees this past fall. He directed federal agencies to find a way to clamp down on or ban them.

With rules updating on a constant basis, you’ll need to know these eight new things if you want to travel to Cuba in 2016.

As a college student in 2002, I was lucky to be part of a small group of Americans who gained legal passage to Cuba through a little-known educational byway. I couldn’t have timed my visit better, because shortly thereafter the U.S. government implemented a policy change that eliminated the travel exemption for Cuba.