With world-class sport fishing, half a dozen golf courses, a 21-mile coral reef for good snorkeling and diving, powerful winds for parasailing, wind-surfing and kiteboarding, and turquoise waters for boating, Punta Cana offers something for sports enthusiasts of all ages. And the Paradisus Palma Real Resort can help Punta Cana visitors get the most out of their active vacations.

The reported test of a nuclear bomb in North Korea last week should come as no surprise to the world. The North Korean government has flagged its intentions to develop a nuclear weapons capability for well over a decade. In recent years, North Korea flirted with the idea of opening itself up to the world as a tourism destination. In 2004, a delegation from the Pacific Asia Travel Association led by Neil Plimmer was invited to investigate the possibility and prospects of developing a viable tourism industry in a destination that remains a mystery to most of the world.

United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) observed World Tourism Day on September 27 and highlighted the role of the tourism industry in combating poverty in developing countries. “Tourism is now well recognized as one of the key ways to bring wealth and experience from the richest to the poorest countries,” UNWTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported 4.8 percent year-on-year growth in international passenger traffic for August 2006. This is the smallest monthly passenger traffic increase since the end of 2003 and marks the fourth consecutive month of declining growth in passenger demand. The average load factor for August remained near record levels at 79.4 percent, with North American carriers leading all regions with a load factor of 82.7 percent.

World Heritage sites such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef or Katmandu in Nepal could be taken off the tourism map by 2020 due to the effects of climate change and too many visitors, a think tank said on Friday. In a report prepared for UK insurance company Churchill, the Center for Future Studies (CFS) listed 10 popular destinations that could be either permanently closed or have a visitor cap within 15 years.

The number of international passengers arriving in Spain aboard low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair during August jumped 13.2 percent from last year, government figures showed on Friday. Spain´s crowded no-frills airline market accounted for nearly a third of flights into the country during the peak travel month.