A research study conducted by Stratfor Agency laid bare a new modus operandi to rob foreign tourists and businesspeople arriving at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia. “Many foreigners are persuaded to hop into gypsy taxis only to be mugged on their way to Caracas,” said Alvaro Montenegro, chairman of Venezuela’s Higher Tourism Council.

As part of Air Europa’s strategic plan, the company presented its new management structure: Maria Jose Hidalgo will be the airline’s new general manager to replace Manuel Panadero who will now be in charge of the Institutional Relations Department, an office directly subordinated to the company’s president.

Right in the heart of Santiago de Cuba’s historic core and just a few yards from the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Park, an old mansion is getting a new lease on life to become the city’s first-ever hostel.

The building –an elegant representative of the eclectic architectural style of the early 20th century to be run by tourist company Islazul- is now undergoing a profound refurbishment marked by different interior redesigns to outfit it with housing accommodations, offices and guesthouse conditions.

The European Travel Commission (ETC) has plans in the offing to open a new Internet portal in an effort to boost tourist advertisement of the Old World in the international market as a packaged destination. This will allow Europe to put up a decent fight to other competitive regions –like Asia and the Caribbean- that have long used this promotional strategy, ETC chairman German Porras said.

Spanish airline Iberia turned 75 last Saturday with a yearlong celebration that featured a temporary photo exhibit on the company’s history shown in twelve Spanish airports –it’s right now showing in Southern Tenerife. Celebration also included the issuing of mail stamps depicting the company’s very first plane and one of its latest aircraft.

Lufthansa’s Supervising Committee appointed Wolfgang Mayrhuber, vice president of the Executive Committee of the Deutsche Lufthansa AG, to replace the company’s current president and CEO Jürgen Weber. The reshuffling in the airlines’ front office will come into effect during its Annual General Assembly scheduled for June 18, 2003 in Cologne, Germany.