Image via: Anna Jedynak / Shutterstock.com
Americans will be able to travel more freely to Cuba, send money more easily to family members who live there and use their credit cards on the island for the first time.
The new freedoms are likely to spark a surge in travel to the island, with particular interest from cruise lines.
The restoration of diplomatic relations by the US for the first time in five decades with the island just 90 miles away follows the release of air worker Alan Goss.
President Barack Obama reached the deal with Cuban leader Raul Castro to start the process of ending the long-running stand-off between the two countries.
The two sides are expected to move quickly to re-open their embassies but any move to lift a trade embargo on Cuba, which bans American companies from exporting their goods to the island, would need a vote by the US Congress.
Current regulations bar travel to Cuba by sea, but once in Cuba US travellers may travel between destinations by boat.
Michael Goren, CEO of New York-based specialist travel provider Group IST which runs a ‘people to people’ exchange programme to Cuba, welcomed the thawing of relations.
“I’m in Havana right now and the excitement about the Obama/Castro announcement is palpable,” he said.
“People are excited, but they’re also wondering what it will mean for them. My own personal sense is that once Cuba opens up, the island will change very fast.
“The Havana that I’m standing in right now feels like a time capsule. If people want to see the country as it is right now, this is the time to come.”