The birth of a two-way tourist destination between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico could give the former the inside track over the small U.S. protectorate, warned Rick Newman, chairman of the Hotel and Tourism Association of Puerto Rico.

In Mr. Newman’s opinion, the Dominican Republic will have access to the coveted market segment of American big spenders now dominated by Puerto Rico, while the island will continue reaping no benefits from middle-class Europeans who prefer Dominican destinations.

The US besieged airlines bottomed out in March and April, and are bouncing back — though not very high. Chastened by past predictions of recovery that were way off, few in or around the airline business are ready to declare a recovery just yet. But results from May that have been announced so far include several modestly positive traffic and revenue surprises.

The Caribbean could pan out to be a place of choice for European tourists if the Old World’s currency continues its rising trend against the U.S. dollar, a situation that’s already causing wariness among Spanish hoteliers.

Ever since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 until later this year, airlines are expected to lose –in keeping with their own estimates- some $25 billion. Assad Kotaite, president of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) explained the war in Iraq and the spread of SARS have knocked carriers off the air into a financial crash landing. According to ICAO’s stats, these two factors could generate losses for the sector for a walloping $10 billion this year alone. Added up to the beating taken by the airlines on the wake of 9/11, by the end of 2003 that figure could jump to $25 billion.

“The outlook of poverty in Latin America grew grimmer in the 1990s and reverting that situation calls for rich countries to knock down trade barriers that put a damp on export possibilities,” Argentine newspaper El Clarin reported today. The influential daily retook the proposals made in a report issued by the World Bank (WB) with a view to talk regional nations into reaching a hands-on commitment to let everybody -especially poor people- have access to education and health care systems.

by Norman Girvan, secretary-general of the Association of Caribbean States The severe financial woes stalking Air Jamaica, BWIA and LIAT are teaching some crucial lessons. The conflict in Iraq has hacked down global traveling between 10 and 15 percent, a situation that’s had a harsh or immediate impact on the industry’s finances. Airlines have been going through some tough economic tribulations since the war in Iraq broke out, and even at a much larger scale before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.