Tourism

• Saturday, September 1st 2012 - 06:50 UTC

  Top tax-man suggests Argentines spend vacations in the country, but he prefers Punta del Este

  

  Argentines should stay at home and spend their vacation in Argentina, suggested the head of the tax revenue office, AFIP, arguing in favour of the latest measures severely limiting debit and credit card purchases abroad by charging them an additional 15% expense.

• Saturday, September 1st 2012 - 06:43 UTC

  Falklands’ new Tourism managing director targets the US market

  

  Tony Mason, the newly appointed managing director of the Falkland Islands Tourist Board (FITB), has just taken up his position in Stanley, the Falklands’ capital. Originally from Atlanta, Mason is responsible for overseeing the tourism strategy.

• Monday, August 27th 2012 - 04:10 UTC

  Falklands will be present at World Travel Market next November in London

  

  The newly appointed Managing Director of the Falkland Islands Tourist Board (FITB), Tony Mason is in the Islands. Tony will work to continue to raise the profile of the Falkland Islands as an international tourism destination. Among his priorities are having the Falklands present, for the first time, at the leading global tourism trade event in London, World Travel Market.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2012 - 05:44 UTC

  Edinburgh the most welcoming UK airport; Paris and Moscow the rudest in Europe

  

  Luton is the UK’s most unfriendly airport, with Edinburgh the most welcoming, according to a survey. The Bedfordshire airport got the thumbs-down from travellers asked to rate the friendliness of staff in a poll by travel search site Skyscanner.

• Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 02:56 UTC

  Argentina hosted 5.7m tourists in 2011; iconic names play a significant role

  

  Argentina has become the most visited country in South America with arrivals in 2011 reaching almost six million tourists, said Leonardo Boto head of the country’s National Tourism Promotion Institute, Improtur.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 02:26 UTC

  Mujica working for more trade agreements and a Mercosur with ‘flexibility’

  

  Uruguay needs “new markets and new partners” and must try to diversify trade with the largest possible number of agreements to make Mercosur more flexible and anticipate the current process in Argentina, said President Jose Mujica.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 08:27 UTC

  LATAM airlines planning a 359 strong fleet by 2014

  

  Chile's newly merged regional carrier LATAM Airlines said on Monday it would spend 7.87 billion dollars on its fleet through 2014. The airline aims to have a 359-strong fleet by 2014, up from the 319 planes projected for this year.

• Monday, August 13th 2012 - 16:11 UTC

  Brazilian federal staff strike extends affecting airports, ports and foreign trade

  

  The Brazilian economy is slowing down and civil servants are threatening to intensify the several weeks strike to protest government policy that they allege is appealing to savings in salaries and working conditions to address the situation.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2012 - 17:06 UTC

  Argentine foreign currency credit cards included in the strict dollar “clamp”

  

  Credit card companies operating in Argentina have also fallen under the net work of the tax office AFIP, and now must request authorization and approval to purchase US dollars to balance their clients’ accounts.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 22:29 UTC

  Chile expects a 30% increase in cruise vessel calls this 2012/13 season

  

  Chile is expecting an increase of 30% in the number of cruise vessels calls this coming season with Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas receiving the most, said the country’s Under Secretary for Tourism Jacqueline Plass.