Tourism

• Monday, September 6th 2010 - 05:11 UTC

  First Pink Point LGTB in South America opens in Buenos Aires

  

  Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires has been dubbed the new “gay mecca” of South America, and the Argentine Ministry of Tourism is running with it, according to an article published by LGBT contributed by Roy Heale.

• Monday, September 6th 2010 - 04:54 UTC

  EU agrees on three new watchdogs for the financial system

  

  European Union has reached an agreement on reforms in the financial sector with the creation of a European Systemic Risk Council and three new watchdogs covering banking, insurance and securities markets.

• Saturday, September 4th 2010 - 05:27 UTC

  Third vessel in less than a month to run aground in north Canada Arctic region

  

  A fuel tanker loaded with 9 million litres of diesel fuel has run aground in Canada's Far North but none of the fuel has spilled, the Canadian Coast Guard said on Thursday.

• Saturday, September 4th 2010 - 04:51 UTC

  International tourists arrivals up 7% in half year; Asia and Middle East lead

  

  The first six months of 2010 saw international tourist arrivals grow by 7% according to the August Interim Update of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This result confirms the recovery trend beginning in the last quarter of 2009 and is expected to continue in the second half of the year at a somewhat more moderate rate but with Asia and Middle East continuing to lead.

• Saturday, September 4th 2010 - 04:44 UTC

  “Faster than anticipated recovery” for air passenger and cargo traffic says IATA

  

  Demand for international passenger and cargo traffic increased 9.2% and 22.7% respectively in July compared to the same month a year ago, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The year-on-year comparisons for July were less than the June growth data showing 11.6% and 26.6% increases respectively.

• Friday, September 3rd 2010 - 03:15 UTC

  Chile ski resorts missed Brazilian tourist these winter holidays

  

  Brazilian tourists, who usually come to Chile to ski during the winter months, did not turn up as strongly as in years past, hurting the ski resorts, hotels and tourism in general this year.

• Thursday, September 2nd 2010 - 06:57 UTC

  Average tourist visiting Chile is 50 years old and from the Americas

  

  More than 3.6 million foreigners from all over the world visit Chile spending nearly two billion US dollars every year. To better understand the growing tourism industry in Chile, the country’s national tourism service, Sernatur, has just released a study called “Type of Potential Tourists and Demands in Chile” which categorizes and analyzes tourists’ behaviour while visiting the country.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 19:28 UTC

  Alarm in Ushuaia: cruise calls are forecasted to drop 20% this season

  

  Tierra del Fuego province, in the extreme south of Argentina, and its capital Ushuaia is anticipating a 20% fall in the cruise business this coming season 2009/10 compared to 2008/09 according to the president of the regional tourism institute.

• 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.