German tourism and logistics company TUI plans to cut about 2,000 U.K. jobs as part of a restructuring in the face of tough competition from low-cost airlines and online travel retailers, the Sunday Times reports.
The newspaper quoted Peter Rothwell, head of northern Europe for TUI, as saying Europe´s largest tourism group planned to reduce its headcount to around 11,500 from 13,500 in Britain.
Panama has officially invited Mexican investors and developers to join an enhancement project of the Canal Zone and its surrounding areas, including the cleanup of former shooting fields used by the U.S. military in the past.
Panamanian Ambassador to Mexico, Ricardo Aleman, and Julio Ross, manager of the Inter-Oceanic Region Authority (ARI for the Spanish acronym) discussed in Mexico City the possibilities of investing in seaport works, tourism, industrial development, trade and housing projects.
Spanish investors from small and midsize companies –most of them linked to the farming, foodstuff industry, manufacturing technology, wood, furniture and travel- will take part in a business powwow between Argentina and Spain scheduled for April 25 and 26 in Buenos Aires.
Caribbean News Digital has learned the Spanish delegation will be headed by Tourism and Trade Secretary Pedro Mejia, and Javier Gomez-Navarro, chairman of the Higher Council of Chambers.
The tourist sector of the Dominican Republic generated $3.4 billion worth of revenues last year, up 5 percent from 2003. In all, the Caribbean destination scooped up 3.5 million visitors, according to the country’s Tourism Minister, Felix Jimenez.
With a whopping 24 percent contribution to the nation’s GDP, the leisure industry represents the number-one income source for the Dominican Republic, followed by money remittances sent by nationals from overseas and the business volume churned out by the local free trade zones.
Spain-based Mall Group is planning to invest some $200 million in a residential tourist project in Panama, a country where that particular activity has become the underpinnings of its travel industry, Tourism Minister Ruben Blades said this week.
Mr. Blades also underscored the interest of the Spanish company in this modality popped up during meetings held in Madrid and Panama City aimed at showing Spanish developers the Central American nation´s potentials to advance residential tourism in several regions.
Cuba managed to amass its first current account surplus in fourteen years since the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1990, driven by nickel exports, tourism gains and the sale of medical services overseas, said Francisco Soberon, chairman of the island nation´s Central Bank.
Mr. Soberon noted that the prospects of a stronger economy have put the country in a position to revaluate its two currencies against the U.S. dollar in an effort to bridge the gap between greenback haves and have-nots within the population.