Another spectacular display of the Caribbean´s culture, including cuisine, is being planned for Caribbean Week 2005, the Caribbean Tourism Organization´s (CTO) annual weeklong series of consumer focused events and business meetings in New York. From the celebration of the region´s diverse spiritual heritage to the hosting of the exquisite and glitzy Governments of the Caribbean State Ball, thousands of New Yorkers and visitors to the five boroughs will get a feel of what the Caribbean is really like during the May 29 - June 4 events.

Tourism Secretary of the Dominican Republic, Felix Jimenez, announced this week the holding of a meeting of peers from Central America, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Venezuela in a bid to map out a new strategy for the development of travel potentials in the region. Mr. Jimenez explained the powwow, that will take place from July 8 to 10 in the beautiful zone of Punta Cana, will provide a perfect setting ti share experiences on tourism development in these countries and their perspectives to lure larger troves of visitors.

The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) has once again palm-picked Puerto Rico´s San Juan as the venue of choice for the 2006 Caribbean Marketplace, the region´s biggest annual travel and tourism trade event, to be held in January next year. Held every year in January, the Caribbean Marketplace sets the tone for travel packaging in the region and is penciled in by many as the Caribbean´s most significant tourism marketing event of the year.

Travel industry professionals from over two dozen countries of the Americas met for a couple of days to assess the present and the future of the congress and convention market in the region, a segment that churns out some $300 billion worth of profits worldwide every year. The event unfolded within the framework of the 43rd Meeting of the Regional Commission for the Americas of the World Tourism Organization (WTO). Among the attendants were tourism ministers and senior travel officials from 25 nations of the Western Hemisphere, and WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli.

Top experts in tourism communications and journalists from various countries addressed around 200 participants from 20 countries at the first Regional Conference on Tourism Communications (TOURCOM), organized in Nusa Dua, Bali (Indonesia) on Friday. The Conference marks a turning point for media relations and crisis communications in Asia and the Pacific. Organized by the World Tourism Organization in cooperation with the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the event has attracted decision makers in international tourism communications from the public, private sectors and a large group of journalists. The official sponsor partner of the event is Visa International - Asia Pacific.

As the old saying goes, "there´s no gain without pain," and Trinidad & Tobago´s fashion designer Claudia Pegus had not only the vision, but also the drive and the desire to conquer new markets, to forge alliances in the highly competitive realm of Latin fashion. And she accepted the invitation to be the honor guest at a splendid fashion runway show entitled Venezuela Designs, recently held in that South American nation. Mrs. Pegus´ designs and collections have put her on the map, not only in the Caribbean, but also in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. This time around, she presented seven new designs -five of them from her Hemp Resort Collection. The other two outfits belong to her formalwear collection. Not even her world-known cocktail-party dresses were seen in the runways of Caracas, let alone her fanciest creations and flagship bride gowns.