Fifteen leading airline, business and labor groups has urged the US Congress to reject a federal budget proposal by President Bush that could double aviation security taxes, costing travelers and U.S. carriers $1.5 billion. The groups assert the new security tax will kill jobs, economic growth and jeopardize local air service to small- and medium-size communities.

It´s been nearly a month since wicked weather conditions battered the Caribbean-bathed coast of Costa Rica, and now local residents and entrepreneurs are increasingly worried about poor numbers of foreign tourists visiting the region. Hotel occupancy here is usually in the neighborhood of 90 percent during the first three months of every year. However, heavy rainfalls pushed that average down to barely 40 percent, putting 12,700 jobs in harm´s way.

The number of hotels under Barceló Crestline Corp. management can grow threefold following the purchase of all shares of class A common stock of John Q. Hammons Hotels for $13 per share, which has a total value of about $84 million. Barceló Crestline, the parent company of Crestline Hotels & Resorts, is buying the publicly owned part of JQH Hotels, which is 24 percent of the company. Mr. John Q. Hammons owns the other 76 percent and he will participate in the acquiring company by exchanging all of his other equity interest in JQH Hotels for preferred equity in the acquiring company.

The economy in St. Kitts and Nevis expanded nearly four percent in 2004, according to the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) which said that the expansion of the real GDP in St. Kitts and Nevis can be attributed to strong performances in tourism, transportation and communication. Tourism was the main driving force, supported by construction and to a lesser extent financial services, manufacturing and agriculture. These developments occurred within the context of only slightly higher inflation levels, as the effects of rising oil prices appeared to have been limited, the CDB said in a statement.

Foreign investment in Costa Rica was tabbed at $596,800,000 in 2004, up nearly 4 percent from the previous year, in a clear-cut sign of international confidence in that Central American nation, the Presidency’s Economic Council reported this week. The note indicates that inflows of foreign cash account for a considerable chunk of the country’s effort to reverse a severe trade balance shortfall.

The Virgin Islands Port Authority (VIPA) has decided to introduce what it calls "cruising fees" for luxury yachts and "harbor fees" for tour boats, while at the same time, increasing existing marine fees. An agency source told Caribbean Net News VIPA has no choice but to increase revenues in an effort to regain financial stability and strength following the near-crippling losses of the last three years. It lost 4.5 million dollars for Fiscal Year 2004, for a total of at least $13.5 million during the last three years.