After years dealing with several markets in Central and Eastern Europe, Mr. De Paz has been dispatched to Russia, which he considers “Europe’s emerging market per excellence”, with an average of 600,000 tourists traveling to Spain every year. He talked with Caribbean News Digital about the challenges his country faces due to the growth of those markets and the increasing competition represented by Caribbean and Latin American destinations.

Different factors like changes in the visa policy led Nicaragua’s tourism to end 2009 with unexpected numbers in a year of global crisis. The sector, considered one of the mainstays of the country’s development, counts on spectacular natural and cultural reserves. In order to boost the leisure industry and make Nicaragua stop being called “the big stranger of Central America,” the government has stepped up promotion actions, is looking to increase air access and is working on multidestinations with countries like Cuba.

Candes Turismo Internacional belongs to Candes Turismo Venezuela, head office, and it works as receptive of MICE and high quality tourism. With four decades of experience, the company has pioneered the work with distant or emerging markets, it’s been successful and it’s presently working with Russia, favored by the visa exemption though it still faces challenges such as achieving a non-stop connection.

Born in Holland, the representative of The Reef Playacar Resort talked with Caribbean News Digital about the hotel’s experience with the Russian market in recent years, which is encouraged by the gradual discovery of the Mexican Caribbean and the existence of charter flights to Cancun.

Born in Holland, the representative of The Reef Playacar Resort talked with Caribbean News Digital about the hotel’s experience with the Russian market in recent years, which is encouraged by the gradual discovery of the Mexican Caribbean and the existence of charter flights to Cancun.

Russia’s third-largest tourism wholesaler was among the pioneers in opening Caribbean destinations to the Russian market. Some of the one hundred countries it presently works with are located on this side of the world, such as Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Panama. That expansion, as Mrs. Filosofova tells us, doesn’t affect the status of Spain, which remains “a sought-after destination among Russian sunbathers”.