Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas has named Diane Yost as the hotel’s new director of sales and marketing. Yost joined Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas from Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts as the director of sales and marketing at their property in Grand Cayman.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (Asur) said it planned to appeal a ruling by Mexican anti-trust regulators that barred it from bidding for the new airport in the Caribbean region’s Riviera Maya.

Caribbean 360 is reporting that the special Tourism Advisory Council (TAC) established by Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett to provide guidance on long term tourism policy and strategy held its first meeting last week, with the matter of airlift security for Jamaica being the main issue.

Jeffrey Soffer, chairman and CEO of Fontainebleau Miami Beach, appointed Philip Goldfarb president and chief operating officer of the resort. Prior to his new role with the resort, Goldfarb spent seven years with Turnberry Associates.

This year promises to be another hard slog for many Caribbean economies. The latest assessment of uncertain times ahead has come from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). It said any sustained recovery hinges on the performance of industrialised nations, where the outlook remains uncertain.

Following on the heels of the islands success among divers the Cayman Islands has also topped the charts of Caribbean Travel & Life’s Best of the Caribbean issue. Over 250,000 voters took part in the magazine’s poll.