Over three million tourists arrived this year to Chile, an 11% increase over 2010. The number also represents a trebling of foreign tourists in the last two decades, according to Tourism Under Secretary Jacqueline Plass.
Twenty tourists had to be evacuated from the Torres del Paine national park in Chilean Patagonia following the outbreak of a forest fire that has extended to over twenty hectares because of strong winds and difficult access for fire-fighters, reports the local press.
The location of a new deep water port for the Falkland Islands been narrowed down to three potential sites: Mare Harbour, Navy Point (north of the Camber) and Stanley harbour (FIPASS) it was confirmed at the Executive Council meeting last week following a discussion of the issue.
President Dilma Rousseff, about to complete her first year in office, reiterated she remains committed to eliminate extreme poverty in Brazil by the end of her term in 2013.
Cuba will open up more of the country's retail services to the private sector next year, allowing Cubans to operate various services such as appliance and watch repair, and locksmith and carpentry shops, official media reported on Monday.
Three cruise vessels with over 5.000 passengers spent Christmas at Uruguay’s international seaside resort Punta del Este on the Atlantic, according to the local port authority, Carlos Ferreira.
Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro spoke Friday on the phone with Foreign secretary William Hague for the first time since the Falklands/Malvinas’ flagged vessels controversy, but both sides apparently could only agree that the situation remains stalled according to brief statements
The recent visit of the tall-ship Europa to Stanley harbour and its current cruise around South Georgia brings back memories of a by-gone era, the days of sail and tall ships, exploration and the Cape Horn trade-routes.
The Falkland Islands weekly Penguin News reports in its last edition that two Argentine aircraft carrying fourteen passengers for a cruise ship docked in Stanley landed last Saturday in the Islands Mount Pleasant Airport.
Chile Lan Airlines planned 3.2 billion dollars acquisition of Tam SA was approved by Brazil’s antitrust regulator, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the formation of the world’s second-largest carrier.