Tourism

• 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.

• Thursday, August 2nd 2012 - 22:57 UTC

  Argentina’s noose on Falklands: Buenos Aires province bans UK flagged vessels

  

  In what is seen as another step of Argentina’s noose-tightening of the Falkland Islands’ economy and development, the Buenos Aires Province Senate passed a law on Thursday banning British flagged vessels from calling at Argentina’s largest province ports.

• Wednesday, August 1st 2012 - 22:28 UTC

  Brazilian tourists swamp Chilean winter resorts; 30% more in first half of 2012

  

  Chile’s Under Secretary for Tourism Jacqueline Plass reported that the arrival of Brazilian tourists had soared 30% in the first half of the year, attracted mostly to the ski centres along the Andes Mountains and to Patagonia.

• Wednesday, August 1st 2012 - 07:38 UTC

  Brazil will open social automatic cashiers for the exchange of foreign currency

  

  In anticipation of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, Brazil has decided to simplify foreign money exchange for residents and tourists through the use of specific automatic cashiers in pre-determined places.