The Fifth Grand Caribbean Entrepreneurial Forum will get cracking in Santo Domingo on October 24 under the sponsorship of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the Dominican Center for Investment Promotion (CEI-RD). The Entrepreneurial Forum is an initiative of the ACS, in coordination with the CEI-RD that seeks to foster commerce in the Grand Caribbean through business contacts and other activities.

Varadero, Cuba’s premier sun-and-sand destination, will be home to the Fifth Meetings and Incentive Travel Market (MITM) from October 27 through 30. The well-known tradeshow is targeting regional travel destinations outfitted with everything it takes for incentive travel end users and convention organizers to plan events there.

Guatemala played host this week to the first Central American Travel Market (CATM) that from now onward will take place on a yearly basis in each and every country of the region. Tourism ministers from Belize, Panama and other Central American nations attended the two-day event designed to promote this nation as the region´s number-one travel destination.

The 27th edition of the Caribbean Tourism Conference will unfold from September 17 through 20 in Aruba under the sponsorship of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Aruba Tourism Authority. Sources close to the organizers told Caribbean News Digital that the main slogan of this year´s event will read Handling Businesses in a Global Economy. In the same breath, planners have arranged a number of business meetings between October 15 and 17.

Cultural tradition and the taste for the good smoke will be key players in this year´s festivities to mark the 485th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Havana. An array of imagination and gaudiness will highlight these celebrations that are intended to keep cultural heritage very much alive and remember the old part of a town that still captivates the hearts and souls of thousands of visitors every year.

Central America will play host to the fourth edition of TOUR DIVING, a fair specialized in scuba-diving travel, scheduled for January 2005 under the sponsorship of Abando Dive Travel. Following the success of previous editions, the 2005 fair will gather 130 exhibitors from nearly two dozen countries and over 5,000 scuba diving buffs from around the world.