Cuba´s high-peak travel season is faring pretty well, especially with such stunning numbers as 64,956 foreign tourists staying everyday on the island nation, sources from the Tourism Ministry told Caribbean News Digital.
Varadero, Cuba´s premier sun-and-sand destination, has peaked 26,293 tourists in a single day, a new record high. Other destinations with major benchmarks are Holguin, Jardines del Rey and Cayo Largo del Sur.
The Westin Resort and Spa Puerto Vallarta has just been named Starwood´s best lodging in Latin America, the establishment´s PR Manager Maripepa Gonzalez informed this week.
According to Mrs. Gonzalez, a number of elements has made the resort grab the Starwood Hotel of the Year award. Financial outcomes, guest satisfaction, compliance with quality standards and abidance by the trademark´s guidelines were some of the factors taken into account, she said.
The Spanish chain RIU Hotels and Resorts is opening a new Palace-level property, its highest grade of resort, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in 2006. The new, upscale RIU Palace Riviera Maya will join 14 other Palace properties in operation worldwide and a 15th also under development in Punta Cana, Domincan Republic.
Club Med also announced plans to open a third Mexican resort, most likely on the Yucatan peninsula, in the near future. Club Med officials in Paris said the property, to be geared to the upscale family market, could either be opened in an acquired, existing Yucatan-area resort or built from the ground up. No target opening date has been set.
Puerto Rican authorities ordered Marriott Courtyard, the American hotel company, to stop the construction of a new resort in Carolina Beach, next to San Juan, citing possible illegal groundbreaking works on the premises.
The Guidelines and Permits Administration (GPA) warned the U.S. megabuck company could face fines if it fails to abide by the order.
The St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA) is calling on Government for a better tax deal, which should involve the revamping of the tax regime.
While acknowledging that tourism has considerable potential to act as the main engine of St. Lucia´s social and economic development and should be treated as a strategic development priority, the Government has in the past two budget presentations announced increased taxes on travel and tourism.
With an eye aimed squarely at the teenage market (ages 14 to 17), Club Med has opened The Ramp at the Club Med Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and will also debut it at the chain´s family properties in Ixtapa, Mexico, and Sandpiper, Florida, by the end of the year.
The Ramp, a collaboration between the Coca-Cola Co. and Rockwell Group designers, is a two-story, open-air lounge that serves as a place for teens to hang out, skateboard, rollerblade and escape parental supervision.