Turkish Airlines has just inaugurated an Istanbul-Havana route with high-tech Airbus 340-400 jetliners, Magdiel de la Rosa of Cubatur told Caribbean News Digital. Istmar Tourism, Turkey’s number-one tour operator, is the creator of this brand-new connection. “Turkish sunbathers are increasingly drawn to Cuba’s sun-and-sand choices, let alone the possibility of getting in touch with the island nation’s history and cultural values.

Cuba’s Bucanero Gran Caribe Hotel, a tourist resort severely damaged by hurricane Ivan last September, is back in business after enduring an all-out refurbishment of all affected areas. The remodeling comprised the 100-seat restaurant, the swimming pool and poolside areas, the gym, the massage hall, the snack bar, the game arcade, the children’s amusement park and the sport courts.

Euro Disney has lost €145.2 million through September 30 this year, a figure that must be added up to the €58.3 million the company let go of in 2003, sources close to the group that operates Europe’s largest tourism and hotel compound informed this week.

The Argentinean government will beef up security in the country’s major international airports by taking pictures and fingerprints of every passenger flying back to the national territory. “in coming months, this measure will be implemented in the rest of country’s 335 immigration checkpoints scattered along the 5,592 miles of Argentinean borders,” Ricardo Rodriguez, director of the government’s Immigration Department, was quoted as saying in local newspaper El Clarin.

The Dominican beach of Bayahibe has just nabbed the Blue Flag Award as a payoff to its endeavors for the sake of environmental protection, the La Romana-Bayahibe Hotel Association informed this week. The international Blue Flag Award is sponsored by the European Foundation for Environmental Education (EFEE), the United Nations and the World Tourism Organization.

Bolivian treasury authorities will give their own travel industry a black eye next year as they plan to leave the leisure sector out of the 2005 budget, Tourism Minister Ximena Alvarez said this weekend. Mrs. Alvarez grumbled that despite her country’s attempts to turn Bolivia into an attractive travel destination for foreigners, “the country has not earmarked any money for tourism in the 2005 budget. I’m working hard on a legislation that could guarantee our own resources to be exclusively spent on tourism promotion in and out of the country.”