Latin America is gaining as a destination for conventions and meetings as a result of a strengthening Euro and skittishness over terrorism and. In recent months, some US meeting organizers have been passing up Asia, Europe and the USA for Latin cities like Santiago, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, the USA Today quoted travel industry executives as saying.
The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau (PRCB) has just issued a positive report on the business, convention and incentive travel industry on the island, a modality that’s boasting ever-growing demand for reservations in the course of the ongoing fiscal year and that has good chances of going most estimates one better by the end of June.
The gorgeous coasts of St. Maarten will provide the perfect backdrop for another edition of the Maarten Heineken Regattas, scheduled from March 5 to 7 under the traditional sponsorship of the St. Maarten Yacht Club.
After taking an initial slow burn in 1980 with just a dozen boats on the starting line, the regattas have grown at a breakneck pace into one of the most professional events of its kind in the entire Caribbean region. Last year, for instance, there were 230 contestants from 31 countries.
The Havana Club Week, scheduled from March 8 through 12 at the National Hotel –Cuba’s flagship lodging- and the Cohiba Hotel, will this time around feature the International Cocktail Contest in the free and classic categories.
Julian Darbon and Miguel Diaz will go to bat for the Havana Club trademark, while Pedro Medina and Enrique Rivera will compete for Cuba’s Barmen Association, together with Ihosvany Machado, winner of the Fourth H.B. Grand Prix and Pan American champ in 2003 in Uruguay as new technical coach for Havana Club.
Scores of cigar lovers from around the world are having a ball at Havana’s Sixth International Cigar Festival that peaked with a gala dinner Thursday at the National Hotel to host Jenny Reppard, granddaughter of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a celebrated habanos aficionado.
In an effort to highlight the classy style of the Festival, the moviemaking industry is giving a touch of its own to this year’s weeklong celebration of the good smoke that’s gathering cigar aficionados, experts, dealers, journalists and artists from all around the globe.
The 23rd Tourist Tradeshow of Colombia’s National Association of Travel Agencies and Tourism (ANATO) rolled down its curtains Wednesday after showcasing the recreational products of over two dozen countries and highlighting Panama as the guest nation.
ANATO President Oscar Rueda pointed out this year’s fair grew a whopping 26 percent in number of exhibitors, jumping from 410 participants in 2003 to 480 this time up. In the same breath, exhibition space rented for the tradeshow soared from 4,000 to 5,000 square yards for a 25 percent increase.