Different brands of beer and coffee made in Cuba were some of the products the island nation presented at the International Food & Beverage Fair (IFE) held in London last week.
Most presentations were made by foreign companies from Great Britain, Ireland and France that have joint ventures with Cuban enterprises and sell Cuban items in the U.K. and all across Europe.
The World Travel Organization (WTO) is boding good economic news for Latin America, with the regional travel industry benefiting as much from that bonanza as it did in 2004.
WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli, who attended the International Tourism Fair in Berlin this week, said the positive forecast for Latin America is the result of an economic rebound in a number of countries where the flow of foreign tourists grew in double digits last year.
A grand total of 10,409 exhibitors from 181 countries took part in the International Travel Exchange Fair in Berlin, the highest attendance numbers this event has ever logged.
ITB 2005 presented the new Trends & Events segment that included ecotourism and travels for youngsters, among many other offers.
Aruba was well represented at the recently closed ITB 2005, one of the biggest and longest travel tradeshow in Europe that devotes 3 days for consumers and trade and the last 2 days just for trade. A record number of 10,409 exhibitors from 181 countries attended the event.
The Minister of Tourism and Transportation was present as well as Myrna Jansen, Rafael Estrada, Humphrey Vrolijk, Rensley Zijlstra and Rita Morozow of the Aruba Tourism Authority.
The Dominican delegation to the Tourism International Marketplace in Berlin, headed by Tourism Secretary Felix Jimenez, showed off the country´s travel offers in a 3,230-square-foot stand with the primary goal of luring the German market.
As many as 233,000 German vacationers trekked to the Dominican Republic last year, according to stats revealed this week by the Caribbean nation´s Central Bank. Authorities there expect to grab a much larger number of visitors from that European outbound market.
Trinidad & Tobago´s Tourism Minister, Sen. Howard Chin Lee, led his country´s 26-member delegation to the International Tourism Marketplace that came to a close in Berlin this week.
The representation of the Caribbean island state was formed by Neil Wilson, tourism secretary in the Trinitarian Parliament, and TIDCO President Vishnu Dhanpaul, as well as several hoteliers, tour operators and representatives of local companies that provide their services to the hospitality industry.