After four years of trying to weather all sorts of storms, airlines face the threat that Katrina will create a sustained increase in jet fuel prices they can´t handle. That could accelerate the reshaping of the US airline industry, forcing more carriers to restructure under bankruptcy protection, liquidate or consolidate, industry experts predicted. The storm´s impact and timing couldn´t have been worse. Katrina will exacerbate existing problems with high jet fuel prices as well as shortages at some airports, just as the airlines head into a seasonally weak time of year. Many airlines already faced potential cash flow problems this fall and winter.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced last week that an estimated 23.3 million visitors came to Florida during the April-June period in 2005, according to preliminary estimates from VISIT FLORIDA, the state´s official source for travel planning. This reflects an increase of 7.5 percent over the same period last year or a spike of 1.6 million visitors. While at the 38th Annual Governors´ Conference on Tourism at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida, Gov. Bush declared his delight with the report by saying this is great news for Floridians.

China will go to new highs and the tourism in China will continue to develop. This is how China National Tourism Administration´s (CNTA) chairman He Guangwei describes tourism in China in his opening remark on China Tourism´s website. "China tourism is expanding in scale, building up full service organizations and infrastructure. Tourism is becoming a new industry as a result of China´s open and reform policy and becoming a friendship bridge which strengthens ties between the people of different races in the world. China tourism will occupy more important position in the world. According to forecast of World Tourist Organization, by the year 2020, China will become the largest tourist destination and the fourth tourist generating country in the world," says Guangwei.

Ninety-six percent of corporate marketing executives rely on events in their marketing mix and 93 percent view the importance of event marketing to be constant or increasing, according to EventView 2005-2006, the fourth annual study of face-to-face marketing trends sponsored by The George P. Johnson Company (GPJ) and the MPI Foundation. Additionally EventView, formerly called the Global Event Trends Survey, is based upon interviews with more than 700 decision-making marketing executives and personnel in North American, European and Asia Pacific.

Tourism and business chiefs hailed London´s 2012 winning bid, saying the Olympic Games would generate £2 billion for the local tourism industry. But others said the potential benefits to the economy had been overstated, saying the Games are unlikely to generate much economic benefit beyond the direct impact of regeneration in east London.

China is expected to become the world´s second largest aviation market after the United States in the next two decades, a senior Airbus official was quoted as saying in the Economic Information Daily in Beijing. Laurence Barron, chief executive of the Airbus China Corp, said that Airbus may deliver nearly 1,800 airplanes to China over the next 20 years, an average of 90 airplanes a year, accounting for 11 percent of the total airplanes ordered by global customers.