Starting on February 1, 2012 there will be new rules and regulations in regard to cruise routes and frequencies to and around the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. Tour operators have until February 2012 to incorporate the Galapagos National Park Authority’s new regulations, which are designed to protect the local animal and plant life, into their travel programs.

Bond defaults, jitters about a double-dip recession, 9.1 percent unemployment — all the unrelenting talk of the tattered global economy doesn’t seem to compare to the draw of a few days on a Caribbean beach.

During last week’s panel discussions at the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit held at The Atlantis Resort, discussions over the region’s constant struggle to find the right mix of airlift was a common thread throughout the conference.

The Caribbean tourism industry’s marketing and business development unit has taken an important step toward relaunching its vacation website, caribbeantravel.com. The Caribbean Tourism Development Company has signed an agreement with the Florida-based graphics company, Tambourine.

Brand USA, formerly the Corporation for Travel Promotion, a public/ private venture to create more tourism, changed its name and brand strategy in an effort to attract more travelers from all over the world to the United States.

The Antigua Ministry of Tourism recently collaborated with the Sandals Grande Resort and Spa to host a large contingent of travel agents in an ongoing series of Mega Familiarization Trips designed to boost business for the upcoming season.