In an effort to stimulate travel to the Caribbean, American Express has created a program for luxury hotels called "Extraordinary Caribbean Escapes." The program is effective now through December 2003, and offers exclusive benefits to card members and hotel partners.

"The goal of this promotion is to support luxury hotel partners in the Caribbean by driving incremental bookings from our affluent card members," explains Glenn Harris, Head of Caribbean Marketing for American Express Global Establishment Services.

This month, Joao Roberto Lacerda Sabino was picked to serve as Varig’s new director for South America with offices headquartered in Buenos Aires. Before his new appointment, Mr. Sabino was acting as marketing director for the same geographical region. Mr. Sabino attended law school at the University of McKenzie in Sao Paolo and had his big break in the corporate sector back in 1978 with stints in the sales and staff departments. In addition, Mr. Sabino was sales director for Southern Brazil. In July 2000, he was moved upstairs to President of Varig’s Northeast Airlines.

The Regional Representation for the Americas –in charge of WTO’s actions in the area- has built a new hyperlink-related website within the WTO’s own homepage. Surfers can now click on this new Internet site and download information either in English and Spanish. Upcoming events scheduled by the Regional Representation’s office in the different countries –the 40th Meeting of the WTO Regional Commission for the Americas to be held in May 2003 in Paraguay is a case in point- are announced in it.

Dozens of tourists are being misled by fake guides in northern Costa Rica that take visitors down illegal trails to highly hazardous spots near Arenal, the country’s most active volcano. Visitors are charged $25 apiece for the tour, yet they are not forewarned that the trails are not protected, nor that they could sustain serious injuries as a result of the fire-spitting mountain’s activity.

Representatives of airlines and tour operators urged the Guatemalan government to override a recent decree that ordered a 60 to 70 percent raise in tariffs and taxes levied on airport services all across the country.

The proposal –included in a communiqué addressed to Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo- comes only a few days after several air carriers threatened to pull up stakes from that country in retaliation, or at least cut down on the number of stay days for their aircraft.

China has put Cuba on the list of overseas tourist destinations for its nationals, Chinese president Jiang Zemin told his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro in a meeting held by both statesmen during Mr. Castro’s visit to this huge Asian country.

China’s decision to include the island nation within its international tourism projects gives Chinese leisure companies plenty of leeway to both promote and plan trips of vacationers to the Caribbean country.