Tourism

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 19:21 UTC

  Argentine-Japanese couple takes top prize in Tango World contest

  

  An Argentine-Japanese couple beat 400 dancing pairs to take top prize in the Mundial de Tango world competition held this year in Buenos Aires' Luna Park amusement centre.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 06:10 UTC

  Brazil promotes tourism to Rio’s (crime-free) favelas (shanty towns)

  

  Tourists usually try to run from Brazil’s Rio do Janeiro's notorious slums. Now officials headed by President Lula da Silva are inviting them to come and visit instead. The Santa Marta shantytown this week became the first community in a program meant to promote tourism in the poor neighbourhoods that are home to some unique music and art work.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 16:30 UTC

  Chile Looks to Relax Casino Laws to Cater Cruise Ship Tourism

  

  The Ministry of the Economy is planning to send a bill to Chile’s Congress that would allow cruise ships to operate their casinos while in Chilean waters. This would repeal a section of the 2005 Casinos Act that requires all cruise ships to shut down their casinos when they pass within 13.8 miles of Chile's shoreline.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 08:13 UTC

  Cuba promotes luxury golf courses by giving state-land for 99 years

  

  The cash-strapped Cuban government will allow foreign investors to use state-owned land for up to 99 years in a change that is likely to bring developments of luxury golf courses to the communist island.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 08:05 UTC

  Argentina’s hotel building boom: “symbol of climb back from global downturn”

  

  Argentina’s hotel building boom can be held up as a symbol of South America’s climb back from the global downturn. The country has 15 projects in the development pipeline representing 1,700 rooms, according to STR Global. Of those 1,700 rooms, 68.9% or 1,172 are currently in the in-construction phase of development.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 07:51 UTC

  Air France To Increase Flights Between France and Chile

  

  Air France announced that beginning September 6, it will add more flights between Paris and Santiago. The airline currently offers five flights per week, but by September plans to increase that number to seven.

• Wednesday, August 25th 2010 - 23:35 UTC

  Increasingly positive outlook for Falklands cruise season

  

  With only two months to go before the first cruise ship arrives in the Falkland Islands for the 2010/11 season the situation is looking increasingly positive.
  An initial prediction of 58 visits to Stanley may this season in reality be closer to 75 (according to the latest schedule) while the smaller expedition ships are planning almost 100 outer island visits.

• Monday, August 23rd 2010 - 07:14 UTC

  Uruguay: More tourists make Montevideo the main attraction in the first half of 2010

  

  The number of tourists visiting Uruguay during the first half of the year over the same period in 2009, increased 5.5% totalling 1.266.898, while revenue jumped 18.7% in US dollars (878.6 million USD), according to the latest numbers released by the Ministry of Tourism.

• Wednesday, August 18th 2010 - 03:34 UTC

  Balmoral to retrace in April 2012 centenary of the Titanic route

  

  Relatives of those who perished on the Titanic will be boarding a cruise to mark the 2012 centenary of the sinking of the vessel. A special ceremony will take place on board the cruise ship Balmoral 100 years on from the exact time the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on the night of April 15 1912.

• Tuesday, August 17th 2010 - 09:17 UTC

  Tourists arriving in Argentina during June increased 29.7% over a year ago

  

  The number of tourists that arrived in Argentina during June increased 29.7% compared to the same month last year, according to a government report.