Events

Over 97,000 tourism professionals attended FITUR 2003

The 23rd edition of FITUR 2003 came to a successful close Sunday at the Juan Carlos I Fairgrounds in Madrid, wrapping up a weeklong session of white-heat bargaining that brought hopes back to the leisure industry whose main companies showcased their products for the ongoing year to more than 97,000 professionals from 110 countries.

Companies from 170 countries are attending FITUR 2003

Spain’s International Tourism Fair, the opening event of the year’s international tradeshow schedule, is conducting its 23rd edition Jan. 29 through Feb. 2 on the premises of the Juan Carlos I Fairgrounds in Madrid. Over 9,000 companies from as many as 170 countries are expected to turn out at the venue.

EXCELTUR: a time to mull over

Reps from the European Union (UE), the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the State Department of Trade and Tourism and all major tourism companies discussed last Monday their standpoints on the tourist sector and their competitive challenges within the framework of EXCELTUR Second International Conference.

Fourth Latin American Colloquium of the International Barmen Association comes to a close

The Fourth Latin American Colloquium of the International Barmen Association (IBA) came to a successful end in Havana that wrapped up a five-day meeting from Jan. 21 to 25.

The sound of blue will make St. Croix swing

St. Croix will provide the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise with a warm Caribbean welcome as the island´s famed St. Croix Blues Festival entertains passengers with an unbeatable selection of top-notch performers. Held in the historic waterfront town of Frederiksted on February 11, when the ship is in port, the festival will provide music fans continuous entertainment from 3:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Cuba makes its bid for events and incentive travel

Cuba hopes to notch some 325,000 arrivals this year in the category of events and incentive travel, a modality that grabbed roughly 200,000 tourists in 2002. This piece of information was broken within the framework of the Convention Bureau’s annual meeting to assess last year’s upshots.

Also in 2003, Cuba is gunning for 3.7 to 5 times more earnings per capita in this modality than in conventional tourism, alongside a 15 percent increase in using the island nation’s tourist infrastructure, a figure that peaked 12 percent last year.