Foreign tourists spent more than $300 million in Chile over the past summertime season, according to figures revealed today by the National Tourism Service (SERNATUR).

The number of incoming foreign vacationers during the southern-hemisphere summer months of January, February and March was up 21.1 percent compared to the same span of time the year before.

The Central American overall economy will jump 3.3 percent this year according to estimates reckoned by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL is the acronym in Spanish).

The economic going of Central American nations, though, will hinge heavily on the good health of the U.S. economy.

Around 60 percent of Central America’s exports are headed for the U.S. market and that nation provides half the number of tourists that visit the region in a single year.

Cash flow into Latin America –mostly drawn by the travel industry- could peak $43 billion this year, up $19 billion from 2003, the International Institute of Finance (IIF) reported today.

The institute, formed by the world’s top banks, explained capital flows to emerging markets could reach similar levels to those seen before the Asian crisis that swept that region between 1997 and 1998.

Lan Chile Airlines raked in $48.1 million in the first quarter of the ongoing year for a walloping 123 percent increase from the same three-month period of 2003, sources close to the company´s front office informed.

According to a press release issued by the carrier, Lan Chile has posted the best first-quarter numbers in history.

In keeping with the airline´s communiqué, a change in both corporate image and name -now it´s plainly called LAN- played a role in the huge profits reaped by the company between January and March this year.

Mexican President Vicente Fox announced $6 billion worth of investment in infrastructure, with special emphasis on the building and remodeling of roads, seaports and airports, three elements that can contribute dramatically to the development of the country’s leisure industry.

Mr. Fox made the announcement at the closing ceremony of the 29th Travel Marketplace, Mexico’s largest tourist sector that recently came to a successful close in Acapulco.

The Panamanian economy shot up 6.8 percent in the first quarter of the ongoing year compared to the same span of time the year before, with considerable contributions made by the nation’s leisure industry.

Panama’s Finance Minister Norberto Delgado said in a press conference that the disclosed economic numbers match this year’s 4.1 percent growth estimate.

Mr. Delgado said Wednesday the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could augment somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5 percent later this year.