A violent clash between security guards and workers on the site of the 850-room RIU Palace Hotel in Mammee Bay, St. Ann, last week forced contractors, Tort Marley Ltd., to close down the project temporarily. However, four men who were taken into custody by the police in connection with the disturbance were later released by the police without being charged.

Ecuador´s government is moving to branch out its financial ties and pump up economic links with China. In an interview with the Financial Times, Finance Minister Rafael Correa said Ecuador is willing to cooperate and beef up relations with China and other "friendly countries" such as Brazil, Venezuela and Spain.

Guests at Beijing´s top hotels will soon pay more for their rooms as the city´s hotel prices catch up with their counterparts in New York, London and Tokyo. Guest room prices in Beijing will continue to rise 6 percent each year until the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, reported the local newspaper Beijing Daily on Wednesday. According to the article, price guidelines will soon be announced by the municipal tourism bureau and the city´s Reform and Development Committee.

The lovely city of Guayaquil, in Ecuador, was home last week to an international seminar entitled “Tourism & Struggle Against Poverty in the Andean Community,” an event organized by the country´s Tourism Ministry and the World Tourism Organization (WTO). The seminar was attended by representatives from Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela and the host nation.

The lovely city of Guayaquil, in Ecuador, was home last week to an international seminar entitled "Tourism & Struggle Against Poverty in the Andean Community," an event organized by the country´s Tourism Ministry and the World Tourism Organization (WTO). The seminar was attended by representatives from Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela and the host nation.

Aeromexico will be rolling out a host of new connections between the U.S. and Mexico this very summertime travel season. On the seasonal front, Aeromexico will offer twice-a-week nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Culiacan, July 9 to Aug. 20; from Las Vegas to Guadalajara, July 7 to Aug. 21; and from Atlanta to Cancun, July 7 to Aug. 22.