Tourism

• 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.

• 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.