Sponsored by the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the Jaragua Renaissance Hotel in the Dominican Republic is playing host to the Fifth Grand Caribbean Business Forum, an event that pursues the objective of advancing trade in the region. In coordination with the Dominican Center for Exports & Investment (CEI-RD), the forum is fostering business contacts and opening a new window of opportunity for businesspeople and entrepreneurs in an effort to make regional commerce stronger.

After eighteen years out of the world´s Formula One (F-1) Grand Prix Circuit, Mexico is back in track with the addition of Cancun as one of the competition´s premier venues. "The International Auto Racing Federation (FIA is the Spanish acronym) has okayed Cancun for F-1 races between 2006 and 2010," Quintana Roo Governor Joaquin Hendricks said.

Havana’s Latin America New Cinema Festival will roll up its curtains on December 7, a week later than the traditional December 1 grand opening, due to serious damages caused by the two hurricanes that hit Cuba in August and September, Festival Chairman Alfredo Guevara said. “The main reason for delaying the grand opening of the film festival is the severe damages in some of the country’s movie theaters,” Mr. Guevara pointed out while explaining to the press why the kickoff presentation has been moved to December 7.

Rio de Janeiro has put on its glad rags to host the Brazil Today Destination Fair and the 32nd Congress of Brazilian Travel Agencies (ABAV), two of the South American nation’s major tourism events. The tradeshow that kicked off Wednesday is showcasing the best products and services the local travel industry has to offer. This time around, each and every continent is flashing new stuff and featuring massive turnouts as far as governmental officials and tour operators are concerned. Counting Brazil in, there are 35 nations attending the Fair of the Americas that will stretch out until Sunday.

Costa Rica proudly presented the 2004 Central America Marketplace, an event that pursued direct businesslike contacts among leisure industry professionals. The tradeshow –it came to a close on Friday- gathered some fifty impresarios from Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe who discussed such major issues as multi-destination offers, hotels and tourism attractions in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.

The International Association of Latin America Air Transportation (AITAL) is convening a powwow in Miami for November 17 and 18 to gather the CEOs of the region’s top airlines with a view to foster international debate, make headway on major issues and improve aviation in the hemisphere. The list of boldface people for the AITAL gathering at Miami’s Intercontinental Hotel includes Fernando Flores (Aeromexico), Juan Emilio Posada (Avianca), Carlos Luis Martins (Varig), Marco Antonio Bologna (TAM), Pedro Heilbron (Taca), Jorge Neves (Pluna), Ernesto Asbun (LAB), Emilio Romano (Mexicana), Enrique Cueto (LAN) and Fred Smith (FedEx).