Aruba’s minister of tourism and transportation, Edison Briesen, took a grand tour around the venue hosting the Tourism Convention and talked to authorities from the sector.

In a conversation with Caribbean News, Mr. Briesen pointed out his country is keen to developing multi-destination among Caribbean countries. In that respect, he said air connection is one of the needs to be ironed out since many nations in the region have no flights among themselves.

With a view to advertise the upcoming World Tourism Expo, Wendy Hesketh is attending the Tourism Convention. Mrs. Hesketh is the planner of the aforesaid exhibit scheduled to take place next September in Mexico.

In a brief interview with Caribbean News, Mrs. Hesketh said the idea behind this effort is to lure international purchasers and boost up the Central American, Caribbean and Mexican regions as highly attractive tourist destinations.

Cuban air carriers Cubana de Aviacion and Aerocaribbean S.A. signed a shared code contract yesterday afternoon that from now on will allow both airlines to divvy up both transportation and service.

The agreement, rubricated by Eng. Ramon Valdivia Acosta from Cubana de Aviacion and Alberto Velasques Sanchez from Aerocaribbean S.A., will be in force beginning in June.

Cuba’s tour operator Havanatur and Palmares Co. inked an agreement for the marketing of Palmares-owned facilities stationed overseas.

Havanatur’s president Berto Perez explained the contract would not only permit to enhance the mesh of services, but also to give the Cuban destination’s choices a much wider media hype.

The first presentation of the 23rd Tourism Convention now underway in Varadero’s Plaza America Conference Center dealt with Holguin, a region teeming with highlands, fertile plains and beaches of powder-thin sand, the same place that inspired Genoa-born Admiral Christopher Columbus to dub it the most beautiful land human eyes had ever beheld.

Around 73 percent of hotel rooms in this tourist destination are pigeonholed in the four-star and five-star categories. As a whole, the circuit is growing at a 19 percent average annual rate.

Conrado Martinez Corona, chairman of Cuba’s Convention Bureau, talked to Caribbean News on the presentation of the Cuban destination for incentive travel and events at a time when the island nation advocates for a healthy, peaceful and safe tourism.

“For the first time, the primary sense of a tourism convention will revolve on the issue of incentive travel, congress and conventions. This is something that no doubt embraces great significance for the Convention Bureau that turned twenty years old just a few days ago.”