In preparation for hosting the 2014 World Cup, the 2016 Olympic Games and to gain a competitive edge in the international tourism market, Brazil has launched the Brazilian System for the Qualification of Accommodation Options (SBClass).

According to ATOR Analytical Service the number of the requests for Turkey in May 2011 decreased by almost one third in comparison with the same period of last year. But then the number of the requests for Greece increased almost by one third and for Spain by 22 percent.

In the first four months of 2011, a record 330,697 non-residents visited the Dominican Republic (DR), a 14 percent increase over the same period last year and the highest growth for visits to the DR in the past three years, according to ministry of tourism reports. Most of the increases came from the US market, the DR’s largest market.

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the sector has the capacity to transform small towns and villages into bustling economic centers, through investment. In his presentation at the Caribbean Canadian Emerging Leaders Dialogue (CCELD) earlier this week at the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) Arcadia training centre in St. Andrew, Mr. Bartlett cited the towns of Falmouth, Trelawny and Negril, Westmoreland, and the city of Montego Bay, St. James.

Arrivals to The Islands Of The Bahamas in 2010 soared past five million visitors – only the second time the islands-nation has achieved this milestone – and now exit surveys conducted by the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation reveal that visitors would recommend the destination to family and friends based on overall guest experience on Nassau and Paradise Island.

The Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority has announced a significant increase in UK visitor arrivals for the first quarter of 2011. Latest figures from the Statistical Division of Ministry of Tourism show an increase of 13.74 per cent from January to March against the same period last year.