Officials from the U.S. cities of Miami Beach and Orlando said today their hefty tourism gains are sending out a strong signal that Florida is finally stepping out of the 9/11 fallout.
Authorities from Orange County in Orlando (central Florida), home to a couple of top-notch theme parks such as Disney World and Universal Studios, reported a 23 percent tax hike on tourism from 2003.
A fresh attempt is being made by Caribbean governments and hoteliers to iron out differences with cruise lines, which ply the Caribbean route. The Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Obie Wilchcombe, made the disclosure following a meeting of Caribbean tourism ministers in New York last week.
Speaking at a news conference in New York, the Bahamas Tourism Minister told reporters that ministers have endorsed the stablishment of a tripartite committee that has been set up to review the relationship.
The European travel package market could chalk up a modest 4 percent increase in 2004 following two years of bleak figures, an annual research study conducted among 150 tour operators by German travel magazine FVW revealed this week.
However, experts were hoping to see better numbers on the board, taking into account a strong recovery in bookings earlier this year. But the rebound of the travel market apparently hit another snag over the course of the past month, leaving tour operators once again drowned in uncertainty as the summertime travel season closes in.
The skyrocketing price of oil is posing a threat to the recovery of air transportation and to its plans to start reaping benefits all over again following a recent deep crisis, the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported this week.
Under normal circumstances, fuel accounts for 16 percent of operational costs for airlines. Yet the 55 percent increase in oil prices from 2003 could make fuel expenditures shoot up from $8 billion to $12 billion overall.
Mexican airlines will add an $8 extra charge on all plane tickets in an effort to offset a 20 percent hike in fuel costs, the National Chamber of Air Transportation (CANAERO) informed.
"We´ll be bound to increase the price of plane tickets. It´s an overcharged fare on fuel that will vary from 50 to 100 pesos ($4.3 to $8.7) per ticket, depending on the kind of flight," CANAERO President Jorge Luis Moya explained.
The board of directors of Colombian airline Avianca has just picked the offer made by Brazilian group Synergy -owned by impresario German Efromovich- to buy out the company, local news outlets informed today.
"The proposal made by Synergy/Ocean Air adequately complies will all necessary requirements to help the company step out of Chapter 11. After thorough sessions conducted by the Board of Directors in the light of established assessment criteria, the offer proved to be convenient for the company and for all the parties involved," the group stated in a press release.