The International Trade Fair for Tourism and Travel Otdykh LEISURE in Moscow , Russia (http://www.matiw.com/) has been granted a status of an “UFI Approved Event”. Otdykh LEISURE is organized by Euroexpo Ltd. Russia and Euroexpo Exhibitions and Congress Development GmbH, Austria.

From June 26-July 2, 2010, dive enthusiasts will gather on the volcanic island of Montserrat for the second annual Montserrat Dive Festival. Held in conjunction with the destination’s bi-annual Reef Check Program, the week-long event is spearheaded by the Green Monkey Dive Shop with support from the Montserrat Tourist Board (MTB) and Scuba Montserrat.

Aruba announced the lineup for the 10th Annual Soul Beach Music Festival, taking place May 26-31, 2010. This year’s festival offers live performances by Grammy Award-winning singers/songwriters Mary J. Blige and Toni Braxton, Grammy-nominee Raheem DeVaughn, as well as actor and comedian Kevin Hart.

The St. Kitts Tourism Authority has announced that local artist Infamus has joined the line-up of performers for the 14th Annual St Kitts Music Festival, which will take place on island from June 24-26, 2010. Infamus was the first artist signed to participate in the event and has now become the first local artist in history to be sponsored by the island’s tourism ministry.

ASTA has announced that San Juan, Puerto Rico, will be the host of the sixth annual International Destination Expo (IDE), to be held April 14 to 17, 2011. New next year will be ship inspections at the Port of San Juan. This is the first IDE to include ship inspections as part of its education offerings.

Critical issues relating to sustainability and creative solutions to many of the challenges facing Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) member countries, as well as the effects of climate change, will be discussed when tourism stakeholders gather in Barbados next week.