Representatives of the Latin American travel industry will huddle next week in Madrid for the Iberian-American Conference of Tourism Ministers and Entrepreneurs (CIMET is the Spanish acronym), an event that will take place within the framework of the International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2005). Caribbean News Digital has learned attendants will broach the present and the future of midsize and small companies within the leisure sector, as well as the internationalization of Spain´s travel industry in Iberian America.

The city of Rio de Janeiro will welcome as many as 770,000 local and foreign tourists for the upcoming carnival festivities, the Hotel Industry Association of Brazil (HIAB) informed this week. HIAB Deputy Chairman Angelo Vivacqua explained the number of local visitors could vary dramatically because lots of people usually make last-minute reservations.

The 25th edition of the International Caribbean Festival, an event that has traditionally taken place in the eastern Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba, will this time around move to Venezuela. Scheduled for early July, the event will serve to show the development of Venezuelan culture, of Hispanic and African roots, that strengthened during the Spanish colonial rule based on a mixture of races and civilizations.

An international conference on tourism and architecture will be organized by the Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Tourism, from February 5 to 8. Under the name, Built Environments for Sustainable Tourism (BEST) — Sustainability, Cultural Diversity and Destination Image, the gathering will be held in conjunction with the UNESCO and the World Tourism Organisation (WTO).

The 2005 Caribbean Marketplace came to a close Tuesday and went down in the books as the biggest edition of all time. The fair marked its 25th birthday in Montego Bay with 41 square feet of exhibition space and a massive turnout of over 1,500 attendants. Berthia Parle, president of the Caribbean Hotel Association, said the Caribbean Marketplace –a tradeshow that has positively come apart at the seams as far as purposes and goals are concerned- took place for the first time ever in Jamaica back in 1980 in an ambience of “superb organization and great security, with the hospitality and the brisk pace of the Jamaican people.”

As part of a joint publicity strategy wielded by Guatemala and Panama, both nations will attend the 25th edition of the International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2005) in Spain´s Madrid as active members of the colorful and rhythmic Caribbean delegation. Under the “Central America, So Small… So Big” trademark, countries in the region seek to lure more tourists to their travel destinations. The Guatemalan entourage is planning a seminar to tackle travelers´ viewpoints on a variety of issues.