After half a century, London´s famous red Routemaster buses are rattling into retirement. Thousands of fans said farewell to the famous hop-on, hop-off buses Thursday, the last full day of regular service for the icon that has been the subject of thousands of tourists´ photographs and postcards. City transport bosses say the venerable vehicle cannot accommodate disabled people and must be replaced by more user-friendly buses.

Cendant Hotel Group announced the appointments of April R. Urbine as vice president of national sales and Jeff Smith as vice president of operations for Wyndham Worldwide. Mrs. Urbine, who will lead the hotel chain´s group sales efforts, had served Wyndham International since 1987 in a variety of sales capacities, most recently as regional director of national sales based in Irving, Texas, managing a national sales team of 32 professionals responsible for soliciting group and meeting business for the entire Wyndham portfolio.

The government of Venezuela will invest US$30 million for the construction of the first hotel on La Tortuga island, some 50 miles west of Isla de Margarita on Venezuela´s north coast. It will have 100 rooms and the investment will be made at the beginning of 2006. The Italian government, led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has shown interest in a project being carried out by the Venezuelan Ministry of Tourism on La Tortuga, an island with sparkling beauty and great tourist potential, ideal for its promotion in that European nation, which usually prefers the tropical vistas and Caribbean scenery.

Tourist train service to the mountaintop Inca ruins at Machu Picchu was halted for two days last week as demonstrators continued to block the tracks as part of a dispute with a local mayor. “Train operations remain suspended,” said PeruRail spokeswoman Aurora Pratto, adding that about 1,000 tourists and commuters were waiting for transport back to the nearby city of Cuzco.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) is beginning the construction of Terminal 3 and has made the necessary studies for the building of the second runway at Cancun International Airport. These two projects represent a total investment of over $150 million. The foundation stone for Terminal 3 was laid during a ceremony attended by Felix Gonzalez Canto, Governor of the Quintana Roo state, Mexican transport ministers Pedro Cerisola, and tourism minister Rodolfo Elizondo Torres.

The first meeting under the new Framework Agreement between Belize and Guatemala was held last month in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, sources close to the parties told Caribbean News Digital. A skimpy official announcement from the Belize Press Office was issued exactly one week after the two-day meeting ended.