Destination News - Latin America / Caribbean.

Jun 21, 2009

Commemorating 200 years of Charles DarwinOs Barth, a new heritage guide will be launched in order to promote with the tourists all the sites visited by the British naturalist in the XIX Century. The route includes all sites visited by Darwin in his journey throughout the country. These sites include the cities of Parihuano, in the IV Region, La Campana in the V Region, Chiloe in the X Region and Puerto del Hambre, Fuerte Bulnes and Navarino Island, located in the XII Region of Magallanes and in the Chilean Antartica. Jun 17, 2009

Atton Hotel

The Atton Hotel has expansion plans for Peru and Colombia. The construction of a new 280-room Atton Hotel will start in two months in Lima Peru. The company is also evaluating the construction of a hotel in Bogota and in other Latin American capitals. The decision is to define the second project outside of Chile before the end of the year. Jun 17, 2009

Bahiatursa

Bahiatursa and the Bahia Tourism Secretary, in Alliance with Salvador Bus, offers this month (from the 10th to the 13th, from the 19th to the 24th and from the 26th to the 28th) the Omnibus del Forro Bus in order for the tourists to enjoy the programming of Sao Joao da Bahia, in the Pelourinho, in the Bahian Capital. The service is free with typical activities inside the bus, as well as live music. The buses leave at 7:00pm from the Stella Maris Resort , in the Stella Maris Beach, and from the Pestana Bahia Hotel, located in Rio Vermelho. The return is at midnight from the Main Square. Jun 17, 2009

Barbados

Air Jamaica has also renewed their flight service to Barbados with twice weekly flights from JFK and a new Bajan Invasion package. Air Jamaica, Barbados and STS Vacations have introduced the exclusive Bajan Invasion limited time offer starting at USD 500 per person (plus USD 82.70 tax), inclusive of three nights accommodation at The Rostrevor Hotel, air, airport transfers, Barbados Gourmet Card and government taxes, available from July 2 to Aug. 30, just in time for the islandOs Crop Over celebration. For more information, call 800-221-9831 or visit www.visitbarbados.org. Jun 18, 2009

Bolivia

Bolivia has the sixth place in the World among the countries with the highest quantity of species of birds, having estimated the existence of more than 1,414 different types of birds in its territory, which means 60 percent of all species in South America. Jun 17, 2009

Bolivia

Bolivia celebrates the winter solstice by receiving the Aymara New Year, one of the celebrations with more tradition in the Andean Region. Every year, on June 21st, Tiwanaku celebrates the Holiday with the visit of thousands of tourists who come from inside and outside the country. The main event of the celebration starts when the first rays of the sun during June 21st pass through the Puerta del Sol, signaling the beginning of a new Andean Year. The year 5517 will be celebrated this year. Jun 17, 2009

Carnival Cruises

After 42 days of suspending the arrival of cruises to the Progreso port, the Carnival company resumed its operations to this point of the Yucatan coast with the arrival of the Holiday, which brought 1,786 visitors from the United States. The segment of the cruises industry works again with the arrival of this cruise, and there are new expectations that Carnival will increase its frequencies to Yucatan by including this destiny on its routes. Jun 17, 2009

Cruise Planners, American Express 

Cruise Planners and American Express is hosting an exclusive sale June 22 to 29 on all Royal Caribbean bookings for itineraries sailing July 1 through Dec. 31. The sale includes all gratuities for the first and second guest per stateroom and 50 percent reduced deposits. Additionally, Cruise PlannersO offers can be combined with any Royal Caribbean promotion during the sale period such as discounts of up to USD 200 per stateroom and up to USD 150 in onboard credits, based on the length of the itinerary and sailing date. To take advantage of Cruise PlannersO exclusive Royal Caribbean sale, reservations must be made through a certified Cruise Planners agent. www.CPVacations.com. Jun 18, 2009

Medellin

A bus in the city of Medellin was transformed into a mobile museum about the history of transport. The bus has pictures, parts of aircrafts, ship compasses, a 70 year old flight simulator and one of the famous black boxes. Jun 17, 2009

Norwegian Cruise Line 

Norwegian Cruise LineOs 2,002-passenger Norwegian Sky underwent a complete refurbishment focused on enhancing the guest experience while the ship was in dry dock last month in Freeport, Bahamas. The ship, which entered the Miami short cruise market approximately one year ago, received enhancements to its public areas, staterooms and suites, as well as the addition of three new staterooms. ONorwegian Sky has been in high demand since we brought her to Miami to sail three- and four-day Bahamas cruises last year; and therefore we wanted to give her a beautiful new look for the summer season and beyond,O said Kevin Sheehan, NCLOs CEO. Jun 19, 2009

Puerto Costa Maya

Puerto Costa Maya has been selected as one of Royal Caribbean InternationalOs ports of call for the 220,000-ton Oasis of the Seas, starting in May 2010. OLarger vessels like the Oasis will bring more than 5,000 passengers to our shores at a time, positively impacting our business owners and surrounding community,O said Teofilo Hamui, president of Costa Maya. Struck by Hurricane Dean in 2007, Costa Maya, resembling an ancient Mayan city, was rebuilt. In mid-2008, Costa Maya reopened with the capability to accommodate three ships at once, including newer, larger ships like Oasis of the Seas and NCLOs Epic-class ships. Jun 17, 2009

Puno

Puno has a new tourist route that tries to become one of the most important routes in the zone. The main attraction of this route is the Titicaca Lake. The route includes a visit to the towns of Acora, Chucuito and Plateria, among others, moving towards the border with Bolvia. This will be a new alternative to the Quechua route that tourists use to visit the islands of Taquile and the Uros from the port located in the lake. Jun 17, 2009

Quintana Roo

The hotel sector of the south of Quintana Roo will reduce its hotel tariffs in order to attract tourism. The objective is to sacrifice earnings at a first stage, in exchange of promoting destinies with the visits that will be received and show that the Southern area of Quintana Roo is well prepared. Jun 17, 2009

Riu Group

The Riu Group opened its USD115 million hotel in Mazatlan. The Government of the State of Sinaloa announced that the Riu Group opened its USD115 million in the resort of Mazatlan in the Mexican Pacific area. The investment of the company from Mallorca in the Riu Resort Hotel Emerald Bay has been Othe biggest in the last years of tourism development in the areaO. The hotel has 716 rooms and its opening reached 80 percent occupancy. Jun 17, 2009

St. Kitts

St. Kitts had a presence in nearly every aspect of Caribbean Week in New YorkOs activities, from appearing on national television on Monday through the 36th Annual Governments of the Caribbean State Ball on Friday evening. Starting the week off, St. Kitts was the first island destination to be featured on WPIX channel 11, a CW affiliate station, at approximately 7 a.m. on Monday morning, the prime time for capturing morning viewers. The segment on St. Kitts was just over three minutes long and included a performance by the islandOs Lenbo masquerades as well as an interview with Jacinth Henry-Martin, manager of U.S. operations for the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. St. KittsO culture and heritage as well as its wealth of attractions were showcased to an audience of over 77,000 people in the New York metropolitan region. Jun 18, 2009

ZZ AirGuide 090622

Editorial eMail: [e-mail] For Air Transport & Travel Business Experts contact our Director of Content Aram Gesar eMail: [e-mail] For Advertising and Marketing: [e-mail] For Custom Content: [e-mail] ISSN 1544-3760 - Copyright [c] 2009 AirGuide / Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.