Jose Maria Garcia Casabal took over as manager of Customer Service and Operations for Latin America’s Southern Cone of Amadeus, the global digital service provider. Mr. Casabal replaces Federico Fisher who was promoted to general manager of Peru Amadeus.

Tourism is going smoothly among member states of the Andean Community and posted a 5.3 percent raise all through 2003 with a tally of 815,000 visitors, an upturn trend that has remained unaltered over the past five years.

Jamaica-based hotel chain SuperClubs was put on notice by the U.S. government that company execs and their relatives won´t be allowed to enter the United States due to their investments in Cuba.

Havana´s Rum Museum has opened the Havana Club Lounge with a view to recreate Cuban music and the bohemian part of town back in the 1930s.

Featuring a glazed wooden bar and a fancy three-tier cupboard (also made of wood) showcasing all Havana Club´s rums and liquors, the lounge provides an intimate atmosphere and gives patrons the possibility of sipping at the cocktails that used to be mixed at the time, some of them inspired from boldface names of Cuban culture, like Amochoc.

Venezuelan tourism grew a whopping 66 percent in the first four months of the ongoing year compared to the same span of time in 2003, said Dalila Montserrat, tourism vice minister of the South American nation.

Mrs. Montserrat pointed out that tourists spent over $1.6 billion in the country between January and April this year, compared to nearly $1.2 billion in the first four months of 2003.

Air Madrid, Spain’s newest airline that took off for the first time ever last weekend with a sellout flight, will also make trips to Costa Rica with a couple of Spain-bound weekly flights beginning on June 3, thus enhancing the Central American country’s connection with Europe.

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) informed negotiations for that deal came to a successful close last January. The air carrier will use 300-seat Airbus aircraft for this particular service.