Tourism

• Tuesday, February 3rd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Regional Spanish airline plans flights to Gibraltar

  

  An airline based in the Spanish region of Andalusia, Andalus Lineas Aereas, is planning to restore daily air links between Gibraltar and Madrid as part of an ambitious strategic plan to link regional air routes across Spain and Morocco.

• Monday, February 2nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Ushuaia consolidates as south hemisphere cruise hub

  

  With 396 cruise vessel calls this season Ushuaia in the extreme south of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego confirms its hub condition for the industry in the southern hemisphere, according to local authorities.

• Monday, February 2nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentine tourists “flooded” Chile during January

  

  Tourist activity in Chile during January increased 6.4% compared to the same month a year ago, totalling 424.536 tourists and an estimated 289 million US dollars, up 9% over January 2008, according to the Chilean Tourism Office.

• Tuesday, January 27th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Tourism industry expected to contract up to 2% this year

  

  International tourist arrivals in 2008 increased 2% over the previous year but with the advance of the global crisis the rate of growth in the second half came to a stand still and turned negative, a tendency which is expected to continue in 2009, --possibly between 0 and minus 2%--, according to the latest report form the World Tourism Organizations.

• Tuesday, January 20th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Number of tourists to Argentina drops 8% in November

  

  The number of foreign tourists arriving in Argentina during November fell 8% over the same month last year, according to government report from the statistics office INDEC.

• Tuesday, January 20th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Lan system passenger traffic for December was up 10.7%

  

  Chile's Lan airlines and associates announced that its system passenger traffic for December 2008 grew 10.7%, and capacity rose 12.6%. This means that load factor declined 1.3 points over last year to 74.7%. The company noted that international passenger traffic accounted for about 68% of total passenger traffic.

• Monday, January 19th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Two of the largest cruises vessels call in Montevideo

  

  Two of the world's most impressive cruise vessels will be calling in Montevideo this week with over 7.000 visitors and 2.400 crew members. They are “Mariner of the Seas”, which is scheduled to spend next Thursday in Uruguay's capital, and on Sunday, “Queen Mary 2” on a 114 day global tour.

• Sunday, January 18th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Bird strike confirmed in US Airways crash

  

  It has been confirmed that a collision with a flock of birds caused a US airliner to lose power and ditch in a New York river just after take-off.

• Friday, January 16th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  New York plane crash: 'Miracle on the Hudson'

  

  A US Airways aircraft has crashed into the Hudson River in New York after a flock of birds apparently disabled both its engines. More than 150 passengers and crew members were rescued before the plane sank into freezing waters.

• Friday, January 16th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Third year running LAN, best airline in C. and South America

  

  For the third year in a row the prestigious magazine Global Traveller awarded LAN Chile as the 'Best Airline in Central and South America.' The magazine surveyed more than 31,000 readers of the publication to select the best in class for luxury and business travel throughout 2008. This distinction is the direct result of the feedback received in the survey.