The Carnival King officially kicked off five days and nights of nonstop partying Friday with a special appeal for revelers to practice safe sex. “I wish all my subjects peace and health, that they celebrate safely and remember that the condom is the best Carnival costume,” said Carnival King Alex Oliveira as he received the key to the city from Vice Mayor Otavio Leite.

TNT Vacations is offering a $49 roundtrip fare on charter flights between Boston or New York (Kennedy) and Bermuda when booked as part of a three-, four- or seven-night package through April 30. Complete packages, which include roundtrip air, hotel accommodations, round-trip airport-hotel transfers, hotel taxes and service charges, are priced from $399 for three nights with Thursday departures.

With Japan´s population starting to dwindle, the nation´s tourism industry as well as the central and local governments are turning their eyes to China, hoping that a large number of travelers from the market with 1.3 billion people will rejuvenate Japanese regional economies. The government of Shizuoka prefecture, the home of Mt. Fuji, is no exception. As part of a state-funded project to invite foreign travel agencies to Japan, the prefecture recently had five Chinese officials tour the area.

Choice Hotels International recently announced the promotion of Dan Couture to the position of regional vice president, extended stay development. In his new position, Mr. Couture will oversee the company´s newly created national extended stay franchise sales force and be responsible for overseeing the strategic growth of both the MainStay Suites and Suburban brands in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Mr. Couture has more than 30 years experience in the hospitality industry including hotel operations, franchise sales and franchise services. Previously, he directed Choice´s franchise administration and property conversion services department.

The AAA Four Diamond Award winning Presidente InterContinental Cancun Resort began a dramatic transformation this winter and will re-open to guests beginning March 10. While Cancun´s beaches were severely eroded by Hurricane Wilma, the Presidente InterContinental Cancun Resort, due to its privileged location, added more than 15 feet of additional frontage to its spectacular private beach, one of the largest and most beautiful in Mexico and featured as one of the “World´s Best Beaches” by the Travel Channel.

The UK´s top tourist attractions took a nosedive in visitor numbers during 2005, new figures reveal. The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), which oversees the running of the nation´s favorite sites, confirmed that the top nine most popular attractions all lost visitors. The National Gallery, the Tate Modern and the London Eye, three of the top ten most popular sites in the UK, experienced the most severe declines, of 15.2 percent, 12.1 percent and 12 percent, respectively.