The 27th edition of the Caribbean Tourism Conference will unfold from September 17 through 20 in Aruba under the sponsorship of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Aruba Tourism Authority. Sources close to the organizers told Caribbean News Digital that the main slogan of this year´s event will read Handling Businesses in a Global Economy. In the same breath, planners have arranged a number of business meetings between October 15 and 17.

Cultural tradition and the taste for the good smoke will be key players in this year´s festivities to mark the 485th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Havana. An array of imagination and gaudiness will highlight these celebrations that are intended to keep cultural heritage very much alive and remember the old part of a town that still captivates the hearts and souls of thousands of visitors every year.

OSA Alliance, an organization that unites Spanish travel agencies, is holding its second congress in Cuba with the participation of 150 travel agents from Latin America. According to the event´s planners, the conclave will take place in the travel circuit of Guardalavaca, in the eastern Cuban province of Holguin.

Central America will play host to the fourth edition of TOUR DIVING, a fair specialized in scuba-diving travel, scheduled for January 2005 under the sponsorship of Abando Dive Travel. Following the success of previous editions, the 2005 fair will gather 130 exhibitors from nearly two dozen countries and over 5,000 scuba diving buffs from around the world.

The Latin American Confederation of Congresses and Related Events Organizers (COCAL is the Spanish acronym) has just wrapped up an open forum in Uruguay with regional airlines in an effort to exchange views and experiences aimed at making the entire region take a bigger bite off the international incentive and convention market. COCAL, gathering national and hemispheric federations involved in planning congresses and related events, is a non-profitable organization based in Buenos Aires empowered with both national and international outreach.

“The World Under Just One Roof” is the slogan of the 2004 World Tourism Exposition (WTE), going on in Mexico City from Sept. 23 to 25. This time around, there are five theme pavilions linked to the so-called convention tourism, as well as to ecotourism, spa, golf and cruises. As a matter of fact, the latter is highly important for the host country as Mexico holds 45 percent of the world’s total number of cruise passengers that sail around the seven seas every year.