LanChile has just unveiled its new corporate image that gathers all companies under the name Latin American Network (LAN) with simultaneous presentations in all of its Latin American destinations.

Now the air carrier has merged its own corporate image with affiliates in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic in an effort to make it work in a more comprehensive way while keeping its independence in one piece.

Panama ought to cope with more economic reforms, skyrocketing unemployment and bulkier shortfalls regardless of good outcomes in such fields as transportation, tourism and the building industry, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) disclosed in a recent report.

On May 2002, Panamanian authorities passed a fiscal responsibility legislation with a view to slash public debt by half of the nation´s gross domestic product (GDP). So far, the country has managed to make a gradual dent in its once heavy deficit.

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.

Job creation in Costa Rica accrued 2.2 percent in 2003 thanks in part to rekindled exports and growing tourism, while take-home pays were up 3 percent, official sources informed.

Ronulfo Jimenez, economic coordinator for the Costa Rican administration, said the government created 12,056 new jobs in 2003 for a 2.2 percent hike in the private sector compared to the year before.

The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CRSCF), though, placed job creation slightly lower at 1.5 percent for a grand total of 9,563 new posts.

Spanish chain RIU Hotels & Resorts forked over €30 million for the purchase of a five-star hotel in the Bahamas. Hubbed on Paradise Island –one of the islets belonging to the Bahamas Archipelago- this lodging was formerly owned by a local U.S. company. The establishment is currently undergoing a refurbishment process and will remain closed until its reopening scheduled for late December this year.

The new all-inclusive RIU Paradise Island has 350 beachfront rooms and provides all services any fancy hotel has to offer.

Palace and Real Resort, two Mexican hotel chains, will buy out nine hotels owned by Sidek-Situr –another Mexican conglomerate- for a lump sum of $100 million. Impresario Fernando Garcia Zalvidea, head of Best Day, the company that runs resorts under the Real trademark, and Jose Chapur Zahoul, chairman of the Quintana Roo Hotel Association –owner of the Palace lodgings- explained the new operation will rekindle tourism in all of Mexico’s major travel destinations.