U.S. heightened alert prompts stepped-up security in Cancun airport

The eastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo will beef up security at the Cancun International Airport after the U.S. government shifted the alert of terrorist attacks to code orange.

Jose Luis Soladana Ortiz, commander of the local General Civil Aviation Directorate, said security measures will be strengthened regardless of the fact that the Phase Two Alert –activated since after the 9/11 terrorist acts in NYC and Washington- remains on.

According to Mr. Ortiz, the actions include tighter screenings of all luggage and passengers, who will now be required to be at the airport three hours before boarding an international flight and a couple of hours ahead of takeoff time for all domestic flights.

“The series of terrorist threats in many parts of the world is making us keep this high state of alert,” the Mexican official pointed out.

European tourists open cruise season in Santiago de Cuba

Cuba’s cruise season has just kicked off with the arrival of 500 European passengers to the city of Santiago de Cuba on the eastern side of the nation, local news media reported.

The Caribbean liner –owned by Europe-based company Festival Cruises- docked last night in Santiago de Cuba some 534 miles east of Havana. The ship had sailed off from the Dominican Republic with a human cargo of French and Italian sunbathers. A second Festival Cruise vessel will arrive in Santiago de Cuba next Jan. 14.

Cruise tourism has been inching up on the island nation whose cash-strapped economy has been heavily depending on the local leisure industry over the last decade.

According to official estimates, travel revenues for Cuba were up 16 percent this year with as many as 1.9 million tourists visiting the country.