Caribbean leaders meeting in Jamaica officially launched Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez initiative with the purpose of helping the region face the mounting energy bill. Also present at the ceremony was Cuba´s Fidel Castro that together with Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson had already signed the agreement which will provide Petrocaribe members Venezuelan crude at preferential prices, with deferred payments and the possibility of settling part of the bill with local grown produce.

The president of Peru, Bolivia and Brazil inaugurated an $810 million highway project to connect Brazil´s Atlantic coast to Peru´s Pacific port before the end of the decade. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolivia´s Eduardo Rodriguez and Peru´s Alejandro Toledo traveled to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado in Peru´s southeast Amazon for the groundbreaking ceremony.

The country´s tourism industry formed an association called the National Tourism Association of Solomon Islands (NTASI), aimed to address the needs of tour operators. About thirty operators adopted the association´s constitution, drafted during a full day´s meeting in Honiara last month. The new association hopes to liaise with various government departments and statutory bodies such as the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau, the Department of Culture and Tourism and the hotel associations.

Divi Resorts is pleased to welcome Doug Kuhn as the new Director of Revenue Development. Overseeing the company´s Reservations, Member Relations, Revenue Development, Yield Management and Customer Service, Mr. Kuhn has made quality training of personnel and improving external and internal communications top priorities. Mr. Kuhn brings with him an extensive working knowledge of all facets of the hotel industry having held the position of General Manager at a New York City-based hotel sales and marketing company representing properties in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Cap Juluca has just finished in the runner-up spot of the top 20 international resort hotels ranking pieced together by readers of Andrew Harper´s "Hideaway Report". Results were published in the September 2005 edition of the newsletter. This is the fourth year in a row that Cap Juluca grabbed top honors among Caribbean resorts, a distinction which began in 2002 when the hotel was chosen "Caribbean Hideaway of the Year" by Harper.

Dominican Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez said recently that airline tickets have gone up somewhere between $10 to $15 in the last few days as a result of hikes in fuel prices. He was similarly concerned about the effect this would have on the flow of tourists to the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, Enrique de Marchena, president of the National Hotels & Restaurants Association (ASONAHORES), revealed that over 10,000 jobs have gone down the drain in the Dominican tourist sector over the past few months.