Allister Williams, Executive Director of the St. Kitts Music Festival, announced this week that the St. Kitts Music Festival 2006 will be held from June 29 to July 2 next year, instead of over the last full weekend in June, as is traditional. The Music Festival dates have been changed in order to avoid conflict with the Cricket Test match between the West Indies and India, to be held on St. Kitts June 22 through 26.

London´s World Travel Market (WTM 2005) is beginning today as countries and organizers gird for what will probably be one of the event´s most memorable and remarkable editions of all time. Organizers of World Travel Market are introducing many new initiatives and developments this year to keep the event fresh and relevant.

ASTA and Messe Berlin, owner of the ITB trade fair, signed a letter of intent here to create a business partnership to market and operate TheTradeShow, the event designed by ASTA as a successor to the trade show portion of the ASTA World Travel Congress. The first TheTradeShow will be staged in Orlando in September next year.

The small Caribbean island of Anguilla was the center of cultural attention this week as the annual Tranquility Jazz Festival, produced for the BET Jazz channel by BET Event Productions, came to a close Sunday. Attracting some of the most respected names in jazz, the lineup of acts included vocalists Marlena Shaw, Freddy Cole, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, vibes master Stefon Harris, tenor saxophonist David Sánchez, vocalist Claudia Acuña, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, pianist Mulgrew Miller, alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and the Grammy award-winning singer and percussionist, Poncho Sanchez.

World Travel Market 2005 will see Korean tourism launching a new logo and organization name, “Korea Tourism Organization,” to keep up with current trends. Korea is now one of the hottest, newest and trendiest destinations in Asia, with much interest from the press and travel trade alike.

The World Tourism Organization has begun the countdown to its 16th General Assembly to be held in the Senegal capital of Dakar, the first time the biannual event will be staged in a sub-Saharan African country. Senegal will host the General Assembly from November 25 to December 2 at Le Meridien President Hotel in Dakar.