Jamaica recorded a 7 percent increase in overnight tourist arrivals in the first two weeks of December, while welcoming 12,000 cruise passengers in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios this week, renewing optimism for a successful winter tourism season.

Not just by the number of international arrivals or the popularity of a place, tourism took the lead in many less-traveled places as well in 2010. While UN World Tourism Organization recently announced that France will be the most sought-after place in 2010, places such as Scotland, Israel, Bethlehem and the like remained horded for some unusual charms.

The Inter-American Development Bank this week approved a master financing facility of up to $42 million in long-term IDB loans to finance up to eight Marriott-hotels to be developed by Caribe Hospitality S.A. in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico that will meet world-class environmental and sustainability standards.

Even as Caribbean tourism officials try to woo British travelers to the islands despite increased air passenger duties (APD), one of their staunchest allies in opposing the APD has now further compounded the problem.

Santiago de Chile’s airport is about to be expanded to accommodate millions of more travelers. The crowds of people in the airport have been steadily growing, adding hours of travel time to passengers arriving to and leaving from Chile. The renovation should be completed by 2013.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that for the first nine months of 2010, 45.3 million international visitors traveled to the United States, an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2009. In September 2010, 5.1 million international visitors traveled to the United States, an increase of eight percent over September 2009. September 2010 registered the 12th straight month of increases in U.S. arrivals.