Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie’s recent speech underscoring the importance of tourism to the regional economy is finding support from the region’s hotel industry.

A goal of the plan is to sell the Keys and Cuba as a joint itinerary, especially to European tourists. But Keys officials are also concerned that an open Cuba could eat into their domestic tourism business.

International tourist arrivals were up 4 percent in the first four months of 2015, according a new report from the World Tourism Organization.

Russians traveling abroad go shopping much less this year. The greatest drop was recorded with respect to leather products, jewelry and sporting goods.

Terres d’Aventure was the first French Tour operator to introduce many trekkers to the adventure trails of the Everest.

A significant majority of European destinations registered positive growth in the pre-summer months proving the resilience of the sector and underlining its significance as a contributor to the region’s ongoing economic recovery.