Awarded by the Caribbean travel media for her outstanding role in providing assistance to news organizations, Mrs. Ortiz-Valcarcel highlights her kindness in this exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital by giving our readers her personal views about so vital a function for the populations of this region. Her entire career lays bare an unrelenting endeavor toward higher personal goals and absolute dedication to the sector. Her experiences in this field let her come to the early on conclusion that “the delight of the region, right within its diversity, hinges on the genuine and distinctive flavor of each and every destination.” An intimate relationship with the press has also allowed her to ponder the role played by mass media as vital partners in achieving tourist development. Her standpoints are worth taking account of. She talked extensively with Caribbean News Digital about this and other issues.

Since its foundation back in 1982, Cuban airline Aerocaribbean has been steadily on the rise, proudly carrying over 150,000 annual passengers over a span of several years. Director Alberto Velasquez Sanchez weighs the company’s major hits from the renewal of its fleets and its expansion to new markets, all the way to economic development and top achievements. A young man with a successful career under his belt, Mr. Sanchez is proud of the role his air carrier plays today and gives us some insight about the airline’s current status, strengthening efforts and future perspectives.

“Chip off the old block” Jorge Pesquera is a veteran in the tourist business with over 25 years of experience under his belt, including nine years at the helm of the Convention Bureau of Puerto Rico. He’s worked closely with the Puerto Rican Hotel & Tourism Association (PRHTA). Under his leadership, the Bureau has tripled its sales force and has churned out over $400 million a year. Mr. Pesquera is a member of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce and the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB). He’s also an advisor for the Colegio International Universitario del Este in Hotel Management and Tourism programs. He’s the heir of an outstanding family tradition in terms of tourist promotions because his father, Kiko Pesquera, was a Bureau pioneer and served as its first Executive Director for more than 40 years. He’s been awarded time and again for his job in both the Caribbean and Puerto Rican leisure industries. Mr. Pesquera’s extensive academic

Eduardo Acosta de Arriba is getting his big break as president of Cuban tourism company Islazul. Since 1977, he’s taken different posts within that chain and now he’s faced with the challenge of getting higher marks and put up better numbers as far as efficiency, quality and services for his company are concerned. In an exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, Mr. Acosta praised the outcomes achieved in 2003. Islazul will celebrate its tenth anniversary next August, a decade in which some 5 million Cubans have stayed at the company’s hotels scattered all across the island nation and with great offers that combine beaches, cities and nature. Islazul’s top customers are outstanding workers with great results in the course of a whole year, as well as athletes, event attendants and honeymooners.

Turning the NH Parque Central Hotel into Cuba’s best lodging is a professional challenge that General Manager Victor Dönmez has set out to meet. With 18 years of experience under his belt, Mr. Dönmez, a Turkish-born entrepreneur, told Caribbean News Digital he’s always keeping track of all technological breakthroughs and innovations worldwide with a view to achieve higher competitive levels. He likes working in Cuba, a country where he doesn’t feel like a stranger. And now that his hotel is nearing its fifth anniversary next May 5, he says the establishment’s staff, the personnel’s nonstop professional upgrading and the hotel’s maintenance on a regular basis are no doubt his trump cards. The end goal –he says- is to surprise guests all the time with a tailor-made service.

Underscoring the fact that Cuba’s third-largest travel circuit sports a huge array of possibilities, Industrial Engineer Arturo Sanchez Martinez is the Cuban Tourism Minister’s new delegate to the eastern province of Holguin. A graduate of the University of Holguin, Mr. Martinez has great experience in the field of tourism. In an exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, this smiling and upbeat man born under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius tells us about the potentials of Holguin’s travel industry, his perennial dissatisfaction with cost-cuttings and spending, and marketing efforts in progress.