Today, as the chairman and top executives of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) met with Brazil’s President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the Governor of the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, Luiz Henrique da Silveira, to discuss WTTC’s 2009 Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Santa Catarina’s capital, Florianopolis, they took the opportunity of expressing their deep sorrow at the natural disaster that has unfolded in the state over the past several days.

Jamaica is launching a $3 million advertising campaign to lure tourists to the island despite a global financial crisis. Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says TV and radio ads are targeting the United States, which is traditionally Jamaica’s strongest market. He said Wednesday that similar promotions are planned for Canada and Europe.

The Korea National Tourism Organization is citing the increasing value of the U.S. dollar as a motivation to visit Korea. About the same time last year, one U.S. dollar traded for 925 won; today it trades for 1,270 won.

The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) Wednesday launched a campaign to promote tourism in the Amazon Rainforest area. This is a win-win opportunity for CARICOM to explore from the perspective of multi-destination tourism within the Nature-Adventure niche market segment.

Caribbean countries are beginning to feel the drought in travel brought on by the economic meltdown in the United States. The latest figures released by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), as of November 20, show a fall-off for the regional tourism sector, the backbone for many Caribbean economies, for the January to October period.

Puerto Rico hosted ASTA’s joint meeting of its Board of Directors and Chapter Presidents Council and gave ASTA’s leaders the opportunity to see for themselves Puerto Rico’s new marketing campaign –Explore Beyond the Shore- in action. The Board was also briefed on the importance of tourism to Puerto Rico.