The number of tourists who visited Mexico last year rose nearly 6 percent to 23 million, due in part to a decline in the Mexican peso versus the U.S. dollar, Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism said.

Ryanair is planning to eliminate all of its airport passenger check-in counters by the end of this year, a strategy that has never been attempted by another carrier. The Dublin-based discount carrier plans to get rid of its ticket counters, shifting some of those employees to staff drop-off stations for passengers’ checked bags.

Auberge Resorts, owners and operators of award-winning luxury resorts and private residence clubs, announced today that the company will assume the hospitality management of Pond Bay, FOLIO Collection’s new private residence club on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Air Jamaica’s President and CEO Bruce R. Nobles confirmed that the airline will maintain its current cargo services from Miami, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, despite its soon-to-be discontinued passenger service from these cities as part of its 2009 Business Plan. The recently announced plan is designed to improve productivity and bring the airline’s unit costs in line with international norms.

Air Canada reported a fourth quarter operating loss of $146 million compared to operating income of $72 million in the same quarter in 2007. Fuel expense increased $177 million or 29 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. Passenger revenue decreased $14 million or 1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 due to a decline in traffic.

Air France/KLM reported that its third quarter reflected the deepening economic crisis. It reported stable revenues of 5.97 billion euros, a negative impact of fuel hedges on results, an operating loss of 194 million euros and a net loss of 505 million euros.