The Caribbean is currently the world’s most tourism dependent region. This is according to the president of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Richard Skerritt. Skerritt said that the tourism industry is the second source of employment and the main source of income in the region.

Abta, footballer Les Ferdinand, and politicians and businessmen with interests in the Caribbean all feature in a new video shot to highlight the case against APD. The video, shot by the Caribbean Tourism Organization, comes after Chancellor George Osborne announced a freeze in APD until next April in last week’s Budget.

At the 36th Annual Tianguis Turístico, that took place at the Acapulco Convention Center, Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism Gloria Guevara Manzo announced a new program to encourage Mexicans to travel more within their country. The program, “I Am a Tourist,” was implemented with the assistance of the state’s tourism offices.

Top decision makers from the world’s cruise lines plan to be in Durban this May to discuss the way forward for Africa’s developing cruise market.

Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London says there are signs of improvement in Tobago’s tourism sector, which has been under significant pressure in recent years. London was commenting on statistics from UK and European tour operators and Condor and Virgin airlines submitted by Secretary of Tourism and Transportation Oswald Williams, who recently returned home from the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) travel market in Berlin, Germany. 

Panama’s President Ricardo Martinelli asked his Costa Rican counterpart Laura Chinchilla to allow citizens of Costa Rica and Panama to visit each other’s country only with an identification card. Martinelli hopes to speed up the entrance process between the two countries, according to the weekly El Financiero.