The anticipated percentage reduction in tourist arrivals to Greece this year will not reach two-digit figures, Tourism Development Minister Costas Markopoulos said in a press conference on Tuesday. The minister stated that he was satisfied with the figures on arrivals at Greek airports during the first five months of the year, which pointed to an overall drop of 8.8 percent.

Its economy might be battered and its visitor numbers down, but the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is fighting back with a series of bold initiatives and infrastructure upgrades designed to bolster the destination’s tag line and slogan of “It’s better in the Bahamas.”

First-quarter tourist arrivals in Cuba totaled slightly more than 1 million, an increase of 1.9 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to Cuba’s National Statistics Office. The top visitor markets for Cuba were Canada, the U.K., Italy and Spain, according to the statistics office.

Aruba’s cruise traffic from October through April increased 5 percent over the same seven months the year prior.

Cuba is completely ready to receive U.S. tourists if President Barack Obama lifted the travel ban on American citizens to spend their holidays on the island nation, a possibility the UNWTO would support, the organization’s Secretary General Taleb Rifai said in Havana. “Cuba is completely ready to welcome U.S. tourists. What I’ve seen over the past couple of days has convinced me that this is an ideal destination capable of receiving visitors and catering to them with the necessary quality standards,” Mr. Rifai was quoted as saying at the National Hotel in the Cuban capital.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Secretary General, Jordanian Taleb Rifai, arrived in Cuba on Tuesday with a mission to strengthen bilateral relations of cooperation, according to local media. “This country is going to have a very important role and position within the World Tourism Organization (...) Bilateral exchange will promote cooperation”, Rifai said upon arriving in Havana’s internacional airport, where he was welcomed by Cuba’s Tourism minister Manuel Marrero.