Four Seasons Hotels announced last week the appointment of John Davison, a senior Four Seasons executive, as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Davison replaces Douglas Ludwig who is stepping down as CFO in order to take early retirement. John Davison is being promoted from within the Company, having joined Four Seasons in 2002 after a 14-year career with IMAX Corporation. At IMAX he served as Chief Financial Officer for more than 10 years, before becoming President and Chief Operating Officer in 1999. Mr.

Army engineers raced to staunch rising floodwaters submerging historic New Orleans as helicopters plucked frantic survivors from rooftops and hundreds were feared dead on Tuesday after Hurricane Katrina tore across the U.S. Gulf Coast. Authorities made plans to remove thousands of storm refugees from the Superdome stadium and other shelters in New Orleans and forged a bold scheme to airdrop giant sandbags to plug breaches in the city´s protective levee system as water from Lake Pontchartrain poured into the city.

An American Indian tribe with land along the Grand Canyon is planning to build a glass-bottomed walkway that will jut out 70 feet from the canyon´s edge. The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, expected to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe´s $40 million effort to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into a tourist destination that will also feature an Indian village and Western-themed town.

“Despite record high oil prices, we earned an operating profit of 253 million euro. That is a fine feat in such a tough setting," Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa´s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, said when presenting the half-year figures. In the first six months of 2005 the Group´s operating result increased by 220 million compared with the first half of 2004. The Group maintained its ascending course with an operating profit of 279 million euro in the second quarter.

A Tobago Court has sentenced two local youths each to two years´ hard labor for robbing a German tourist on the island. Both accused, 19-year-old Damien Robinson and 22-year-old Lindon Leecock, were sentenced by district magistrate Joan Gill. The youths, when called upon, pleaded guilty to robbing a female German national, Emkei Lesmon. The incident reportedly occurred last Thursday at a house in Lambou, Tobago where the woman was a guest.

Barceló Hotels & Resorts today announced the appointment of Fiona Taylor to the newly created position of Director of Sales & Marketing. Ms. Taylor will be headquartered in the greater New York City area and represent all Barceló Hotels & Resorts around the world with a special emphasis on the Latin American and the Caribbean properties. Ms. Taylor joins Barceló from LIBGO Travel in New Jersey where she was director of marketing for the Caribbean and most recently, of Mexico. She has also served as the regional director of marketing for the Creative Marketing Alliance which represents hotels throughout Mexico and the Caribbean. Prior to that Ms. Taylor held several sales and marketing positions with Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts.