Over a dozen Latin American countries attended the Top Résa International Fair that concluded Saturday after a three-day session in the French coastal city of Deauville.

Mexico, the world’s third nation as to the number of incoming tourists, was one of the most sought-after stands in the tradeshow.

The goal of Mexico’s tourist authorities is to close the ongoing year with far more foreign visitors than the 19.7 million sunbathers who traveled to the nation in 2002, a figure that accounted for a 0.7 percent slide compared to the numbers posted in 2001, though.

The 2003 ExpoVaradero Tradeshow rolled down its curtain following four days of frenzied business negotiations that churned out 144 contracts for a grand total of $2.5 million.

Attendants also inked 63 letters of intention and cut four joint-venture deals, the president of the Organizing Committee Felix Garcia said during the closing ceremony of this tradeshow that seeks to come up with import alternatives in the realm of tourism.

Barbados is bracing itself to welcome regional and international media luminaries to the island for the 5th Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx V) in October, an event that is held biannually since 2001.

A number of leading travel and tourism experts will provide valuable insight into successfully managing in turbulent times when they make presentations at various sessions at the 26th annual Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-26) in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) from October 16-18, 2003.

This year’s conference, themed: “Recovery and Growth in a Fiercely Competitive Environment” is expected to provide a vital platform for information exchange and to generate new ideas on how to grow and thrive in a highly competitive environment.

Cuba’s Expo Tradeshow that came to a magnificent close Sunday in the Mexican city of Merida –in the state of Yucatan- lived up to both Cuban and Mexican entrepreneurs’ expectations.

“We’re leaving fully satisfied because the event rose to the expectations,” said Antonio Luis Carricante, Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Chairman of the island nation’s Chamber of Commerce as he wrapped up the Cuban fair, local newspaper Por Estoi reported.

Just a few hours away from the official kickoff in Mexico City, the World Tourism Exposition (WTE) is generating huge expectations in the region’s industry for this is the first time ever that wholesalers, retailers, industry offices, airlines, cruise companies and hotel chains are summoned all together.