Mexico´s Caribbean resorts are scheduled to be open for business again next month as hotels race to patch up storm damage. But Cancun´s famous beaches will take much longer to restore, hoteliers said last week.
Hurricane Wilma tore up coastal resorts and left them knee-deep in water last month. It also ripped the fine white sand away from some 7.5 miles of Cancun´s beaches.
The Caribbean island of Aruba is recovering from the much-publicized disappearance of an Alabama teenager, Natalee Holloway, in the spring, island officials and agents say, citing strong occupancy and arrivals, and a renewed commitment to visitor safety.
The hospitality community is deeply concerned with the Holloway case, says Myrna Jansen, managing director for the Aruba Tourism Authority. “Aruba is a very safe place, and that´s why the case has been so widely publicized,” she says. “We certainly hope it´s solved very soon.”
The total supply of branded budget hotels in London has increased by tenfold in the last fifteen years and has the capacity to grow even further, according to the latest issue of Visit London´s Hotel Development Monitor.
Currently London has just over 13,000 budget rooms, which accounts for around 13 percent of total London hotel supply.
Europe is being recognized as one of the world´s most important maritime tourism markets, especially for its limitless potential for growth. Next to The Caribbean, the regions of the North/Baltic and Mediterranean are the world´s most popular ocean cruise destinations.
River cruising, in which Europe leads the field, is also the subject of growing demand. This is reflected by continuous extension and streamlining of the region´s fleets.
Three years after shaking itself from the grip of a devastating 30-year war, Angola is taking a few steps to jumpstart its tourism industry. The hope, said Eduardo Chingunji, minister of hotels and tourism, is to lift Angola into the world economy.
To spearhead that effort, the Angolan government is hosting the African Travel Association´s Ninth Symposium on Cultural and Ecotourism at Le Presidente Meridien in the capital city of Luanda, stretching from October 30 through November 4.
The airline industry is in a desperate situation, according to Deutsche Lufthansa AG chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber.
Mr. Mayrhuber called the airline industry´s situation “desperate” as analysts warned Europe´s biggest carriers won´t be able to escape the impact of $65-a-barrel oil for much longer.