“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.

Paraguay’s First International Travel Marketplace (FITPAR), an event organized by the Paraguayan Travel Agency Association and the National Tourism Department, will unfold on November 20 and 21 in Asuncion’s Sheraton Hotel. The fair’s main objective is to strike the attention of all segments within the travel industry by means of a high-quality meeting packed with programs and special activities that could help the South American country’s tradeshow grab a higher slot among the world’s major events of its kind.

Panama is bent on bringing investment to the country during the Panama Week 2004 scheduled to take place in Washington next November, informed Ricardo Eskildsen, chairman of the U.S.-Panama Corporate Council. Mr. Eskildsen explained that the tenth edition of the Panama Week will feature a tight agenda full of topics dealing with world trade trends, tourism, transportation and telecommunication technology.

More than a dozen nations will participate in the Fifth International Wine Festival scheduled from Oct. 13 to 15 at Havana´s National Hotel, the flagship lodging of the nation´s capital. The initiative is bringing together an increasingly larger number of cellars, salespeople, experts and journalists as Cuba continues posting even bigger numbers on the board as far as top-quality tourism is concerned.

The finest dishes of Cuba’s cuisine will bask in the limelight of the Fifth International Culinary Festival, scheduled to take place from Sept. 13 to 19 at Havana’s National Hotel, the island nation’s flagship lodging establishment. Organizers are expecting a turnout of approximately 200 experts from both the turf and overseas. The event’s agenda features exhibits, workshops, debates, ability contests and the very best food money can buy.

Industry professionals from Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico have convened in the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela with a view to bring together travel sector representatives from Latin America and Galicia. Maria Anton, director-general of tourism for the Galician government, underscored the importance of what she calls “root tourism” and the need to have visitors from different Latin American countries come to this Spanish region.