The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism on Thursday launched Club Grand Bahama, a program offering all-inclusive vacations to Grand Bahama Island.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. resident outbound market, totaling 63.6 million travelers, declined by 1 percent in 2008 compared to annual 2007 figures, representing the first decline since 2002.
Cuba can handle the surge of American travelers expected if travel restrictions to the island were lifted, according to Miguel Figueras, an advisor at the Cuba Ministry of Tourism.
ASTA estimated earlier this year that the initial surge could be 850,000 U.S. tourists a year, excluding cruise passengers and Cuban-American family visitors.
Speaking at the 2009 Swiss Travel Mart in Lucerne, Jurg Schmid, CEO of Switzerland Tourism, poked fun at his country’s reputation for manicured perfection. “Just to be clear, we don’t iron our flags or do sound checks on the bells on our cows,” he said.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) reached an agreement in principle on an expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland (HKD).
The stimulus package introduced to support tourism in Jamaica has so far provided J$634 million ($7.1 million) in cash support to the sector, to sustain jobs and maintain growth, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. And he says the industry is using those resources well.