Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said Thursday they have agreed to buy the upscale Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts Ltd. chain for an undisclosed sum. The agreement to buy the Meridien brand and business, which includes more than 130 hotels and resorts, finalizes a preliminary deal reached earlier this year.

Hundreds of scavengers combed through the wreckage of a Peruvian airliner last week, carrying away scrap metal, passengers´ belongings and electronic equipment that could offer clues into what caused the crash that left at least 37 dead. But even before an official investigation was under way into the Tuesday crash of the TANS Airline Boeing 737-200, aviation experts were beginning to cast blame on the pilot, saying his extensive background as a fighter pilot may have prompted him to take risks civilian pilots would not consider.

UNESCO Director General Koishiro Matsuura, accompanied by a delegation, visited Gobustan State Historical Reserve in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet Republic in the heart of Asia. In the first half of the day, guests attended the Gobustan State Historical Reserve and got familiar with the ancient history of Azerbaijan. The UNESCO Good Will Ambassador, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, accompanied the guests in their trip.

Caribbean News Digital is wrapping up today a two-week poll on the $5 surcharge the government of the Dominican Republic wants to levy on each and every tourists visiting the country. In all, the survey logged 618 votes. Nearly 60 percent of respondents (367) voted against this measure. Some people voiced concern over the possibility that such a surcharge could make a dent in the number of incoming visitors to the country, arguing that “tourists are already paying too many taxes” and that “the government should not charge sunbathers with more costs they are not supposed to be saddled with.

Iberostar Hotels & Resorts along the Riviera Maya in Mexico´s Yucatan Peninsula sustained some damage as a result of Hurricane Emily. Guests who did not vacate the four resorts in the Playa Paraiso complex along the Riviera Maya and the two properties in Playacar near Playa del Carmen were housed in the convention center or the resorts´ nightclubs and were never without electricity or water, even at the height of the storm.

London hotels have started to feel the pinch of the July 7 terrorist attacks, but there have not been the widespread cancellations in respect of the business travel market that everyone had feared. However, it seems likely that some leisure visitors are postponing their trips until they feel a greater sense of safety. According to daily hotel operating data provided by The Bench with some 28,000 rooms contributing data, London´s upscale hotels experienced a fall in weeknight occupancy of around 5 to 6 percent last week over levels achieved in the same week last year.