Cuba showed off its very best business opportunities during the course of the first Latin America & Caribbean Incentive Market Exchange (LACIME) that unfolded from June 23 through 25 in Brazil.
The tradeshow, organized by Reed Exhibitions together with the Brazilian Association of Travel Agencies (ABAV), provided a perfect setting to showcase all business opportunities that Latin America and the Caribbean have to offer as far as events and incentive travel are concerned.
Jamaica´s economy will leapfrog dramatically following the enhancement of the island nation´s cruise service on the basis of a new agreement signed between Royal Caribbean Cruises and local authorities. The treaty will bring a minimum of 2 million cruise passengers to Jamaica and over $16 million worth of revenues over the next five years.
A similar accord had been inked last February with Carnival Corporation to take some 50,000 travelers to Jamaican shores, the island nation´s Minister of Transportation Robert Pickersgill told Caribbean News Digital.
The Financial Commission of the Venezuelan Parliament greenlighted the state to own the total amount of shares of flagship airline Conviasa with a $16 million down payment forked over by state-run company Petroleos de Venezuela.
Members of Parliament explained this is the last necessary step for the creation of Conviasa (Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services, S.A.), an endeavor outlined by the Venezuelan government in order to secure domestic and international air transportation, as well as to promote tourism.
According to a recent report issued by the United Nations on trade and development, direct foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean fell down in 2003 for a fourth year in a row, tallying a meager $48.7 billion in the region´s forty-largest economies.
Stacked up against 2002, when the region received $50.7 billion worth of direct foreign investment, Latin America and the Caribbean went south in 2003.
The Costa Maya Tourist Compound, being built on a 12,200-acre vacant lot bathed by the Mexican Caribbean Sea, will require a $1.5 billion investment package, the state government of Quintana Roo informed today.
State Tourism Secretary Artemio Santos explained the Costa Maya compound, intended for deep-pocket travelers, includes the construction of hotels, marinas and other facilities that will make it the second-biggest resort in Mexico with great chances of becoming the country’s premier home port in only three years.
Barbados´s Tourism Minister Noel Lynch stressed his government´s intention to bail British West Indies Airways (BWIA) out of a longstanding crisis and pay off a debt of undisclosed proportions.
Mr. Lynch, who attended sessions of a blue-ribbon panel under the title "Caribbean Tourism: Beyond Sale of Seashells at the Beach," reminded participants that BWIA -with flights to Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and other short-hop destinations- "must do everything within its power to turn the tables and start getting good results," Mr. Lynch explained.