MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2013, MercoPress. http://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Cruise industry adopts passenger bill of rights]]> After a couple of years of negative incidents for the industry, a strong boost Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) announced this week that its Board of Directors approved the adoption of a “Cruise Industry Passenger Bill of Rights” detailing CLIA members' commitment to the safety, comfort and care of guests in a number of important areas.

]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 19:16:00 GMT <![CDATA[Carnival cruises profits suffering from a bad spell of vessels’ incidents]]> The Costa Concordia on the reefs off the Italian coast took 32 lives Shares in cruise company Carnival have fallen more than 7% after it issued a profit warning its second in just three months. Carnival, which operates ships under brands such as P&O and Costa Cruises, said full year revenues, which were expected to be flat, would now fall 2-3%.

]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 00:14:00 GMT <![CDATA[Falkland Islands’ tourism industry keeps growing despite a drop in cruise visitors]]> This season there was a total of 29,553 cruise passenger visits The Falkland Islands International Tourism Statistics Report released to the public this week records that 2012 was the second highest year on record in terms of overnight visitors travelling for leisure. There were 7,791 overnight tourists (as opposed to day trip cruise tourists) arrivals in the Falkland Islands in 2012, of which 1,937 could be classed as leisure visitors. Overall, tourist arrivals have grown at an average annual rate of 7% per annum over the period 2000-2012.

]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 00:35:00 GMT <![CDATA[Uruguay satisfied with the latest cruise season, but there could be difficulties ahead]]> Carambula said that the number of calls was up 10% compared to the previous season The Uruguayan 2012/13 cruise season experienced a 10% increase in the number of calls to the ports of Montevideo and Punta del Este totalling 240 and approximately 400.000 visitors between passengers and crew members.

]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 07:03:00 GMT <![CDATA[Lan privileged passengers but will review investments and expects ‘common sense’ from Argentine officials]]> “We had to yield to the petitions of the company in favour of our passengers” said Enrique Elcasa, Lan General Manager Lan Chile admitted the company had to yield to the demands from the Argentine company Intercargo, which monopolizes ground services in all the country’s air terminals, so that they could resume normal traffic in Argentina. It also said that it was not leaving Argentine but would review future investments and expects more common sense from local authorities.

]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Lan back in the air in Argentina after yielding to ground services boycott]]> Nationalized Intercargo suspended all ground services to Lan despite court decisions Chilean company Lan Airlines said on Saturday it was “gradually resuming” domestic and international flights in Argentina that it had suspended on Friday due to a conflict with state-run Intercargo company. Intercargo said it had re-established the service to Lan after the airline agreed to cancel a debt.

]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 04:55:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentina forces cancellation of all Lan flights by suspending ground services]]> Despite court orders to resume services, Intercargo refuses to service Lan aircraft in any of Argentina’s airports LAN Chile halted on Friday all its flights in Argentina until Saturday morning after the state company Intercargo which provides ground support for the airline, unilaterally decided to cancel the service despite court orders to the contrary.

]]> Sat, 18 May 2013 03:30:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chile confirms its commitment to the cruise industry at the Convention in Valaparaiso]]> “Cruising is important for the economic development of our country” said Minister de Vicente Chilean officials, led by Felix de Vicente Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism, joined senior cruise line executives, port and destination leaders, tour operators, travel agents and suppliers for a robust Seatrade Latin America Cruise Convention in Valparaiso, Chile.

]]> Sat, 18 May 2013 03:04:00 GMT <![CDATA[IAATO Search and Rescue workshop in Punta Arenas underlines importance of good communications]]> Simulation included a replay of a response exercise conducted during the recent Antarctic season with the 1,500-passenger Veendam The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Chilean Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) provided on Thursday details on a joint Search and Rescue Workshop conducted last month in Punta Arenas, Chile.

]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 00:19:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chile launches ambitious tourism campaign at World Travel Market in Sao Paulo]]> Jacqueline Plass said Chile received almost 3.5 million tourists last year A new international campaign to promote Chile as a tourism destination was launched by the Under Secretariat for Tourism, the institution responsible for the promotion of Chile in overseas markets. The campaign was presented in parallel in Sao Paulo as part of the events at World Travel Market (WTM) Latin America.

]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 05:59:00 GMT