In the course of last year, the Argentinean travel industry panned out to be the country’s third-largest hard currency maker, chiefly driven by record highs in the number of foreign trippers.

According to official stats, the cash flow raked in by the leisure industry in 2003 was second only to the sales of soybean flour and fuel oil, but it did beat soybean oil and flakes, metals, manufactures and beef to a frazzle.

Passenger traffic aboard struggling network U.S. airlines is expected to grow this year for the first time since 2000, according to recently released government data. According to Reuters, the projection was included in the Federal Aviation Administration´s annual industry forecast that estimated growth in 2004 of more than 4% to 686 million passengers, for all flights aboard U.S. carriers.

This includes the biggest airlines and their regional affiliates as well as low-cost carriers.

Travelocity said Travelocity Europe, its joint venture with Otto Freizeit und Touristik (OFT), agreed to purchase Travelchannel Ltd., a firm that operates a German online travel site, Travelchannel.de, says Travel Weekly. Michelle Peluso, president and CEO of Travelocity, said the company´s expansion in Europe is a "high priority for us and the acquisition of Travelchannel.de will play a key role in accelerating our growth in Germany and beyond."

Mexican hotels will rake in revenues in the neighborhood of 10 billion pesos (some $800 million) during the Holy Week season, a time of year when Mexicans pack all sun-and-sand destinations around the country, the hoteliers’ guild reported.

“The local hotel sector will make some 10 billion pesos worth of revenues during this oncoming Holy Week season,” pointed out Miguel Torruco, president of the Hotel and Motel Association of Mexico (AMHM is the acronym in Spanish).

Over the past five years, Panama has added 39 new hotels to its stock of accommodations, a figure that is keeping local tourism authorities red hot about the prospect of welcoming nearly a million foreign travelers in 2004.

Jamaica´s Tourism Minister Aloun Ndombet-Assamba has confirmed plans to develop the island´s south coast with assistance from overseas investors will result in a significant increase in tourism activities along that section of the island.

"Based on the performance of other nature-based destinations in the Caribbean that have doubled their tourist numbers in five years, we see a south coast target of doubling its share of Jamaican tourism over the next 10 years from 3.5 per cent to 7 per cent as achievable," she said.