Mexico’s tourism industry continues showing important signs of growth with an increasing number of international air passengers in recent months. From January to August of this year, the number of international tourists arriving in Mexico by air increased by 19.2 percent, in comparison to the same period last year and 6 percent in comparison to 2008, one of Mexico’s strongest tourism years on record.

ASTA reports it has joined The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), an international partnership dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism practices around the world. Founded in partnership by the World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Environment Program, UN Foundation, Rainforest Alliance, Sabre/Travelocity and others, the GSTC is open to any member of the travel and tourism industries.

It’s official: Night landings on Dominica now are a reality, following the inaugural Winair flight from St. Lucia and the Liat Dash-8 flight from Antigua into Melville Hall Airport on Sept. 20.

InterContinental Hotels Group announced that a Crowne Plaza hotel will replace the Pan Pacific Bangkok, marking the entry of the brand to the capital of Thailand. The rebranding will come into effect Jan. 1, 2011, making Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park the fifth IHG property in Bangkok.

An aviation agreement has been signed by the European Union and the Vietnamese authorities which will remove nationality restrictions in the bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and Vietnam. The agreement will allow any EU airline to operate flights between any EU Member State and Vietnam, where a bilateral agreement exists and traffic rights are available1.

Tourism officials here have set a lofty goal: to propel Mexico into the top five of worldwide destinations by 2018. Mexico currently ranks 10th in international arrivals, according to World Tourism Organization statistics.