Panama’s hospitality industry has spawned $750 million so far this year for a solid 10.5 percent growth, according to official statistics. This increase accounts for the country’s biggest jump over the last decade as efforts to turn the travel industry into one of Panama’s top hard-currency makers are clearly paying off.

Back in 2002, the tourist sector churned out $679 million worth of earnings. “Last year’s figures are going to be outnumbered by a long shot,” said Liriola Pitti, general manageress of the Panamanian Tourism Institute.

Costa Rica’s travel industry will churn out some $1.25 billion by the end of the ongoing year. The nation’s Tourism Minister Abel Pacheco pointed out his country came in for 382,417 tourists in the first five months of 2003, a figure that stands for 27,000 more visitors than in 2002 and raises growth to 6.1 percent.

According to Mr. Pacheco, Costa Rica’s leisure industry generated half a billion dollars worth of revenues between January and May this year, while investments in the sector have so far amounted to $48 million.

The Trinidad-Sancti Spiritus destination, in central Cuba, will benefit from a program of investments aimed at enlarging the region´s tourist infrastructure. Local tourist authorities pointed out that over 18 million dollars would be invested with that purpose. The project includes 300 new rooms after the Canada Iberostar Hotel is built.

The lodging offerings of Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, will get enhanced shortly with the oncoming opening of two establishments that will add 250 more rooms in all.

The new hotels are the Quality Real Airport Santo Domingo and the Courtyard Hotel. Both resorts will target businesspeople from the United States.

The Quality Real Airport is owned by Choice International Hotel, while the Courtyard will be run by Marriott Co.

The Mexican leisure industry has already surpassed all expectations for this year, said Rodolfo Elizondo, the Aztec nation’s Tourism Secretary. In the first nine months of 2003, Mexico has raked in little more than $7 billion for a walloping 7.1 percent increase compared to the same span of time the year before.

This upturn trend is putting Mexico in a sitting-pretty position for cracking the $9 billion plateau for the first time in the history of its tourist sector.

German tour operator TUI, the world’s largest travel trusteeship, reported better-than-anticipated business earnings in the third quarter of 2003. The breaking news made the company’s high-end stocks close at 16.01 euros for a 1.84 percent gain.

Despite the fact that TUI’s revenues in the third quarter of the ongoing year took a 3 percent slide to 510 million euros compared to the same period of time the year before, the outcomes did stun experts in the sector.