Without hurting its own travel industry and rather feeling overjoyed that European travelers won’t have to change their currencies in U.S. dollars, Cuba is putting an end to the 11-year reign of the gringo notes in its economy. On October 25, Cuban President Fidel Castro announced that U.S. dollars will cease their circulation in the national territory and will be replaced by Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) as early as November 8.

Without hurting its own travel industry and rather feeling overjoyed that European travelers won’t have to change their currencies in U.S. dollars, Cuba is putting an end to the 11-year reign of the gringo notes in its economy. On October 25, Cuban President Fidel Castro announced that U.S. dollars will cease their circulation in the national territory and will be replaced by Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) as early as November 8.

Beginning next November 1, Havana’s International Fair will come around with its 22nd edition, ready to bear out its importance as the island nation’s most efficient tool of trade promotion and business operations. Organizers are expecting a massive turnout of over 1,100 companies from 40 countries that will come to Havana to showcase their products in EXPOCUBA, the nation’s largest fairgrounds, in the outskirts of the capital.

Attendants to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) concluded the flow of tourists to the 21 member states will climb as long as security and safety for travelers are guaranteed. The two-day meeting that gathered APEC Tourism Ministers in the Chilean city of Punta Arenas was marked by cruise rides down the austral canals of Chile’s Patagonia.

Tourism officials in the city of Miami and other travel destinations across the country are afraid of the possible negative impact that new immigration rules for foreign travelers –in force since September 30- might have on the local tourist industry. Trippers from Germany, United Kingdom, Japan and two dozen other countries that need no visas to enter the United States are from now on required to have their fingerprints taken and be photographed upon arrival.

Iberia’s upcoming direct flights to Spain and Central America, beginning in October, will help boost the travel industry in Panama and in the rest of the region, Panamanian Tourism Minister Ruben Blades said this week. Mr. Blades and his counterparts from Guatemala and Costa Rica, Alejandro Sinibaldi and Martin Mora respectively, made the official announcement about Iberia’s plans to make nonstop flights to these three Central American countries as early as October.