Traffic of air passengers around the world soared 18.7 percent during the first eight months of 2004, compared to the same period of time last year, the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) informed this week. In a region-by-region breakdown stretching from January through August this year, the number of passengers that flew to and from the Middle East climbed 30.6 percent, followed by 27.3 percent in the Asia-Pacific Rim, 17.4 percent in North America, 11.7 percent in Europe, 11.5 percent in South America, and 11.2 percent in Africa.

Cancun’s municipal authorities declared the state of environmental emergency as trash will be dumped in illegal outdoor places from now on rather than in the already-packed local waste deposit. The overwhelming accumulation of wastes at the local deposit –equipped with an incinerator- reached its pinnacle a few days ago and prompted authorities to choose several illegal places around town, mostly in crowded residential and poor areas, to dump trash.

At least 550 miles of land have been prepared for Chile’s Tourist Trail, a project that’s destined to boost up environmental protection and love for nature all across the country. The program’s coordinator, Diego Flores, said the endeavor is backed up by such institutions as the Forest Confederation, the National Tourism Service, the Ministry of National Assets, a number of municipalities and the Armed Forces.

TAM, the Brazilian air company, is carrying out a special promotional effort aimed at pushing tourism to the top in member states of the South Common Market (MERCOSUR), the organization’s president, Miguel Candia, told Caribbean News Digital. The project’s main goal is to lure an ever-growing amount of travelers to the economic region –MERCOSUR is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay- and step up promotion as far as events, congress and fairs are concerned.

The Cuban travel industry won’t be affected by the severe blackouts that have been sweeping the island nation due to a breakdown of the national power grid. Cuba’s Tourism Vice Minister Oscar Gonzalez told the local press that the country’s hotels and resorts are equipped with their own power generators as part of an investment process aimed at keeping lodgings running amid the outages.

Cuba´s hotel groups Cubanacan and Gran Caribe muscled the way onto the top-100 biggest chains on the face of the earth, according to a report published in Hotels magazine. The publication -penciled in as the industry´s most prestigious newspaper- ranked Cubanacan S.A. in the 65th spot, while Gran Caribe S.A. is now 82nd on the list. In the 2002 world ranking, both companies were 74th and 87th, respectively.