The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, IAATA, will be holding its19th Annual General Meeting in Punta del Este, Uruguay from April 28 to May 1. The changing industry and challenges, particularly environmental and safety will figure top of the agenda.

Mexico’s Tourism Secretary Rodolfo Elizondo Torres opened the “Challenges and Opportunities in the Cruise Industry in Mexico and Central America” seminar, at which government officials and industry representatives attended with the goal of strengthening their joint efforts to consolidate the region as a main international cruise destination.

The Worldwide Technology Watch (WWTW) competition forms part of EIBTM’s increasing focus on new technology solutions for the meetings industry and will once again be taking place this year.

ASTA will host its first-ever Retail Travel Leadership Summit at the 2008 THETRADESHOW in Orlando, September 8. The event will bring together industry leaders and executives from top-tier travel companies and foster open discussions and debates on pressing travel industry issues, ASTA says.

Exclude the Hispanic-American market and you make a huge blunder. Americans of Hispanic descent now spend so much that their buying power is estimated to reach $1.2 trillion by 2011. Reaching the potent Hispanic-American market is one of the issues under discussion at the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx).

Kassav, the leading band to emerge from the formative years of Zouk music, will be among the acts performing at the 12th Annual St. Kitts Music Festival, which will take place June 26 to 28.