Dutch St. Maarten introduced its new tourism commissioner to the U.S. media at a restaurant in Manhattan yesterday. Frans George Richardson, the commissioner of tourism & economic Affairs, Aviation and Sports for St. Maarten had served for three years as a senator representing St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles Parliament before his current post.

Barcelona’s new Terminal T1 recently debuted at Barcelona Airport, solidifying its position as one of Europe’s top 10 airports. Native son Ricardo Bofill has designed a sleek sword-shaped structure that is flooded with natural light from its floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Some 100,000 passengers a day will pass through the 5.8 million-square-foot terminal, which is expected to welcome 30 million travelers a year.

The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) reported a 16.6 percent drop in total sales to $5.6 billion for July 2009, or $39.9 billion year to date, a 23.7 percent decline. Domestic transactions were 8,853,631, a 0.2 percent decline for the month, and 60,496,307 year-to-date, a 11.1 percent drop. Domestic fares declined to $2.7 billion, a 14.8 percent decline. Year-to-date domestic fares were $17.8 billion a 23.5 percent drop.

MSC Cruises has chosen to demonstrate its commitment to the Brazilian community through an alliance with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. Through the “MSC for UNICEF” initiative, the cruise line is supporting a program to help provide education to children in 126 communities in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo.

Radisson Hotels & Resorts named Elizabeth Dexter regional sales manager for Radisson Resorts in Aruba and St. Martin. Mrs. Dexter will promote both properties and lead group sales efforts in the West and Midwest regions of the Unites States and Canada.

Bermuda will be the latest travel destination to be featured as part of Cablevision’s advertising television platform, delivering luxury travel information and programming to Cablevision’s digital cable viewers.