Executive Vice President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Sue Springer urged regional cruise destinations "to move away" from imposing a controversial head tax on cruise ship passengers. At the moment the charges vary significantly in each destination, ranging from US $2 to US $65, as is the case in Bermuda.

The Competition Defense System (CDS), a watchdog attached to the Spanish Ministry of Economy, okayed Iberojet Travels –an affiliate of the Iberostar Group- to buy 51 percent of all shares owned by tour operator Viva Tours.

After checking on the file, the CDS decided not to hand it over to the Competition Defense Tribunal, sources close to Spain’s Ministry of Economy revealed.

In early January, Iberostar put the CDS on notice that it had already taken over control of Viva Tours with 30 percent of all shares in the bag.

The number of flown passengers in the first four weeks of 2004 soared 3.8 percent compared to the same period of time the year before, the European Airlines Association (EAA) informed.

All markets operated by EAA-member airlines logged dramatic increases in the number of flown passengers in January 2004.

The North Atlantic market features the highest increase with 4.7 percent, followed by the Intra-European market with 2.2 percent, and Asia & Oceania with 1.3 percent.

Spanish companies with trade interests in Argentina cashed in on President Nestor Kirchner’s recent visit to Spain to hold a series of meetings that served to breathe some fresh air into their business expectations and underscore their confidence in the Latin American nation’s economic rebound.

During a four-day visit to Spain, Mr. Kirchner huddled with Florentino Perez, president and CEO of ACS Building Co., and Francisco Gonzalez, president of the BBVA Bank.

Thomas Cook, the Germany-based tour operator, is hoping to get a double-digit increase in the number of bookings through the oncoming European summertime season, the company informed in Frankfurt. “As we speak, we’re seeing a good trend in the booking of travel packages,” said Detlef Altmann, a member of the firm’s board of directors.

European tourists blasted the extremely high commissions demanded by Costa Rican banks for changing euros, a situation that has raised concerns in the country’s National Tourism Institute. Members of the institution fear this move could send bad ripple effects all over the nation’s leisure industry and ultimately make a dent in the flow of arrivals.

Spokespersons from the National Bank of Costa Rica explained the current exchange rate was adopted because the country has no room for euros and is therefore bound to export the European currency at a very high price.