The Turks & Caicos Islands are gearing up to host the 2006 International Film Festival scheduled to take place from October 17 to 21 in Providenciales. Leading up to the event, officials from the Ministry of Tourism have held promotional events in cities throughout the United States with the most recent held in Atlanta on September 23.

The 2007 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, to be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from January 25 to 27, promises to be the best ever, according to Air Jamaica senior executive George de Mercado, who along with event producers, hosted members of the international press last week in New York to announce the beginnings of the lineup for the 10th anniversary of the festival. Christopher Cross, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Rogers, Michael Bolton, Monty Alexander, Pieces of a Dream and a star-studded reggae lineup, including Freddie McGregor, Shaggy and Wayne Wonder, have confirmed so far, said festival producer Walter Elmore of Turnkey Productions.

Jamaica´s Tourism Minister Aloun N´dombet Assamba accepted the island´s award for Caribbean´s Leading Destination at the 13th annual World Travel Awards which took place last week at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa on the Turks & Caicos Islands. Minister Assamba also accepted the Caribbean´s Leading Tourist & Convention Bureau award grabbed by the Jamaica Tourist Board.

The Cyprus Tourism Organization in cooperation with the World Tourism Organization and the Church of Cyprus is organizing the first International Conference on Religious Tourism (ICORET) 2006 in October in Cyprus. It is anticipated that the industry servicing the sector worldwide and especially in Europe and the Mediterranean region, such as Travel Agents, Destination Management Companies (DMCs), industry analysts and the church body itself will participate.

2006 has been a most challenging year for the aviation sector which has impacted significantly on all aspects of the travel and tourism industry. Heightened security issues resulting from renewed terrorism threats, continued rise of low cost carriers, emerging markets, new routes, expanding airports, alliances and partnerships are some of the toughest issues the industry is coping with today.

The 2006 Hawaii Tourism Conference held last week at the magnificent Hawaii Conference Centre in Honolulu attracted a record 500 tourism and hospitality industry professionals from all over Hawaii and mainland USA. Organized by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the conference drew a selection of leading local, American and overseas speakers covering topics ranging from cultural tourism, sports tourism, crisis and recovery management, airline trends, volunteer tourism, business travel, MICE and destination marketing.