The so-called religious tourism has long since made traditional manifestations of faith and devotion during the Holy Week fall by the wayside in Brazil, theologian Rogeiro Bartolini opines. A researcher and professor at the University of Claritin Schools –a private and Catholic college- Mr. Bartolini believes the fervor of the Holy Week and Easter celebrations is now gone.

Secretary of Tourism, Felix Jimenez, announced this week that he will increase the percentage of promotional aid to tour operators´ advertising campaigns that include Santo Domingo in their tourist packages. This incentive program is designed to encourage travel to the city.

Quintana Roo Tourism Secretary Gabriela Rodriguez Galvez warned this week about reigning insecurity in Cancun, Mexico´s top travel destination in the Caribbean, and called on the new municipal authorities to find a comprehensive way out.

The State Department rolled out a national security plan that will require U.S. citizens to carry passports when traveling home from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Currently, only a driver´s license and birth certificate are needed. The tightened travel restrictions were met with shrugs by some and scowls by others, who said they might hamper trade and tourism between neighboring countries already interlocked.

The Central American Tourism Council (CCT) and the Tourism Chamber Federation of Central America (FEDECATUR) have just appointed Mexican-born Angela San Miguel new executive president of the Central America Tourism Agency (CATA), an organization headquartered in Spain´s Madrid.

The first tourism school ever to be opened in the Mekong Delta will be located in the city of Can Tho, the local National Tourism Administration informed earlier this week. The new center will be built on an area of two to three hectares and is expected to train as many as 1,000 to 2,000 travel professionals every year. The graduates will work as travel guides and aide-de-camps in different hotel facilities in that Asian region.