CUBA — A direct flight to Cuba departed from Orlando International Airport on Wednesday for the first time in 30 years.
Family members in Cuba who haven't seen their relatives in years, embraced them with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces.
"I am so happy to see them," said passenger Lissette Rodriguez.
Travel restrictions still in place keep Rodriguez's 80-year-old grandmother from easily visiting central Florida.
Channel 9 anchor Jorge Estevez was on the historic flight to report what life is like for Cuban people and how eased travel restrictions will impact Cuba's and Florida's economies.
Slideshow: Jorge Estevez travels to Cuba
Video: Jorge explores the heart of Havana
Video: Hemingway's House in Cuba
Video: Jorge shows how tourists get around the island
Stay with WFTV.com all week for updates on Jorge's travels.
"It would be easier to combine. You go to the States and then a couple days in Cuba," tourist Zhiara Anzovino said.
Travel agents think it's a real possibility that travelers around the world would visit Cuba and then make the 400-mile trip north to visit Orlando.
"They would love to be able to go north and go to Orlando. So that's another aspect of exchange between the two countries," the president of Island Travel and Tours, Bill Hauf, said.
Communist ideology had kept the island virtually cut off from the rest of the world until recently, when President Barack Obama indicated the beginnings of diplomacy. With embassies open again in Washington, D.C., and Havana, many people in central Florida are eager to connect with family on the island.
Authorized travelers may return to the United States with up to $100 worth of alcohol and/or tobacco products acquired in Cuba in accompanied baggage, for personal use only.
Estevez will visit Old Havana, Central Havana, the Malecon (seawall), spots with notable architecture, forts, Plaza de la Revolucion and the Tropicana Nightclub.
Traveler Vladimir Vencomo told Estevez he noticed a difference in the Almond Bakery in Old Havana since he last saw it.
U.S. officials said they will allow cruises to Cuba. Carnival Cruise Lines will start cruises from Miami next May.
Critics of the new diplomacy are skeptical that the Cuban people will benefit from the changes, but central Florida residents with family members in Cuba think it's a good start.
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