P.R.O.F.I.T. in the Caribbean (acronym for Partnership Roles & Opportunities For Investors in Tourism) is a luring initiative devised by ProInvest and sponsored by the European Union that counts on the support of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA).

The fifteen member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will sign a free trade agreement with Costa Rica after negotiating efforts that stretched throughout most of 2002. The signing ceremony will take place as Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco and Jamaica’s Prime Minister Percival J. Patterson meet next March 9.

The Caribbean Community is Costa Rica’s fourth-largest trade partner with $69.8 million worth of exports and $16.7 million in imports in 2003.

The volume of direct foreign investment in Mexico fell 25.7 percent in 2003, from $14.4 billion in 2002 to $10.7 billion last year, the nation’s Department of Economy reported.

In a press release put out by that entity, foreign investment now ranks below money remittances ($13.3 billion last year) but above revenues raked in by the local travel industry ($9.5 billion).

Investment in Chile’s real estate business linked to the leisure industry was down 10.8 percent last year and the biggest chunk of projects in that span of time is “still under scrutiny,” local entrepreneurs said.

The Research Department of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism (CNC) and the Higher Council of Tourism (CONSETUR) disclosed the outcomes of the real estate sector for 2003 in their annual joint report.

Mexico’s tourism sector set a new record high in 2003 with $9.5 billion worth of revenues, up a 6.8 percent hike from the year before, the country’s Tourism Secretary Rodolfo Elizondo pointed out.

With these figures in the bag, Mexico jumped from number 13 to the tenth spot among the world’s biggest foreign tourist receivers, Mr. Elizondo went on to explain.

The high-ranking Mexican official also noted the country held on tight to the number eight spot in international arrivals with 18.6 million vacationers.

Cuba’s company CIMEX –made up of more than 80 enterprises providing services to the travel industry, a free trade zone and a real estate firm- churned out little more that $1 billion in 2003 for a good 6.8 percent growth over previous estimates.

CIMEX Vice President Enrique Sentmanat said the Cuban corporation scored a 15.7 percent increase in public sales, double-digits spikes in exports and an 11.9 percent upsurge in tourist services.

These numbers gave 20-year-old CIMEX the necessary edge to average an overall 6.8 percent annual growth rate.