U.S. authorities are warning Americans away from Mexican border areas such as Nuevo Laredo because of drug violence, but the average tourist may face more danger on a Cancun beach. In June alone, two 18-year-old American women were raped in separate incidents in Cancun, in what some activists call an epidemic that is being swept under the rug by U.S. and Mexican authorities. One victim was from Houston, and her attacker was a hotel security guard.

Canada´s ambassador predicted Monday that the United States would drop a controversial proposal that would require all travelers to show passports in order to cross the long border between the neighboring nations Discussions with the Bush administration, which introduced guidelines to crack down on potential terrorist travel across borders, indicates that "passports will not be the ultimate requirements," Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna said in an interview.

Active Hotels, one of Europe´s leading online reservation providers owned by priceline.com, announced last week that it intends to open a Paris office in July to support growth and development of its French operations. The office will be staffed by sales and account management teams and will work in close cooperation with the UK-based French Customer Services, Sales and Distribution teams.

The Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB) announced the appointment of Ronellas Croes as new Director of Tourism. Mrs. Croes will be responsible for overseeing all marketing, public relations and advertising programs for Bonaire, as well as its four tourist offices, which are located in Bonaire, The Netherlands, Venezuela and New York. Building her knowledge of the tourism industry, Mrs. Croes has held positions at Aruba Adventures, a local Aruban company that organizes activities and tours, and the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association (AHATA).

Cozumel has reported substantial increases in tourism for the first quarter of 2005. With new and increased flights from major airline carriers including Delta, United Airlines, US Airways, Continental and American Airlines, Cozumel has experienced a tremendous growth in air passenger traffic to the island. Visitor arrivals for the first quarter of 2005 have grown by more than 20 percent over the previous year, according to Mexican airport operator ASUR. The increase represents a gain of almost 44,000 passengers, approximately 35,000 of whom are international, traveling to Cozumel.

The body of Spanish tourist Gomez Landaverde who was found dead inside a hotel room in Negril earlier last week. The identification, according to Inspector Artel Colley, was taken place at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay. Landaverde, 34, from Garcia Morato at Valla Dolid in Spain, was scheduled to leave the island later in the day. He had arrived a week earlier, on June 7. He was found lying motionless in his bed at about 9:00 am by a housekeeper.