Sol Meliá, the Spain-based hotel chain, wrapped up 2004 with gross gains of €60 million ($80 million), up a blistering 57.4 percent from the year before. The positive outcomes are largely owed to the good going of the company´s top markets.
The group, whose business operations are mostly focused on Spain and the Caribbean, announced net profits for little more that €1 billion at the end of 2004.
Bruce Jones, a Florida entrepreneur, is ready to invest 40 million dollars to build a five star hotel on the bottom of the ocean in the Bahamas, in which anyone willing to dish out 1,500 dollars a night will have the chance to come face to face with sharks from the comfort of his/her undersea room.
The projected Poseidon resort, located off the Bahamian island of Eleuthera at a depth of 15 meters (50 feet), will be connected to the mainland through two tunnels and an escalator, and pressure will be the same as at the surface.
Brazilian authorities are confident about the economic recovery of the Dominican Republic and, therefore, are encouraging their own entrepreneurs to do business in that Caribbean country, a diplomatic source in this nation revealed this week.
Brazilian Ambassador to Santo Domingo, Ronaldo Dunlop, who atended a meeting with Santiago de Chile Governor Jose Izquierdo, explained there´s a tremendous interest in his country to make hefty investments in local breweries and other job-creating projects.
The Aruba Airport Authority awarded Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc. the concession to build and operate a new general aviation terminal at the Reina Beatrix Airport. The new complex will cover approximately 1,500 square meters and will have direct access roads and accommodate customs and immigration on-site.
The new facility will give general aviation aircraft complete independence from the main terminal. Construction of the new terminal is scheduled to start within 90 days. Ground handling and support will be provided from temporary facilities as early as April 2005.
Members of the hotel sector in the Dominican Republic are getting increasingly wary in the face of a sinking U.S. dollar –stacked up against the local currency- and have warned would this situation go on for a longer time, many establishments will be bound to close down.
Marino Ginebra, former president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association and the National Private Enterprise Council, disclosed the grim picture in the pages of El Listin Diario newspaper and said many lodgings have been cutting costs and slashing payrolls to get by.
Star Cruises recorded a $USD9 million loss in 2004, compared with a $124 million loss in 2003. Revenues for the third-largest cruise company, which includes Star Cruises and NCL Corp., rose 1.1% year-over-year, to $1.6 billion, Travel Weekly magazine reports.
Net yields at NCL Corp., which includes Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America and Orient Lines, rose 6.9%. The division recorded 105.9% occupancy during 2004; occupancy on NCL America´s ship, the Pride of Aloha, was 100.7%.