Puerto Rico will host the 2018 edition of Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the Caribbean’s largest marketing event, at the Puerto Rico Convention Center from January 30 to February 1, 2018. Produced by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, and the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association, next year’s event will feature two days of business meetings that match hotels and destinations with online travel agents, tour operators and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) planners through a busy program of thousands of pre-scheduled appointments.

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) regrets the recent U.S. reversal of its travel policies on Cuba and the likely effects on the socio-economic development of Cuba and the wider Caribbean region. The Association continues to support the ending of the U.S.-Cuba embargo and its restrictions on trade and travel, and encourages Cuba’s active engagement in regional economic development. CHTA concludes that the announced policy changes could stall or altogether reverse the heartening progress made in recent years.

from our friends of Carribean News Digital:MITM Americas & CULTOURFAIR have become the most anticipated MICE and cultural tourism events of the year in the Americas and Caribbean – and this year’s edition to be held in Santo Domingo promise to exceed expectations. Since registration opened two weeks ago, GSAR Marketing has been contacted by almost 600 companies from 49 different countries willing to participate, with 400 international buyers and 200 Media.

The MEET TAIWAN Networking Event kicked-off this morning at Concorde Hotel Singapore. Sponsored by Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) and organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Association (TAITRA) and Taiwan Trade Center Singapore, the event successfully enticed a delegation of nine Taiwanese MICE companies that included representatives from travel agencies, MICE consulting firms, airlines, as well as over one hundred Singaporean counterparts in the industry to join the networking event.

airberlin’s management has decided not to apply for a government guarantee. CEO Thomas Winkelmann said: ‘We had made a preliminary application for a surety as part of management’s pre-emptive strategy of investigating all restructuring options for airberlin. However, we have at no point made a binding application for a surety, and will not do so,’ said Winkelmann, asserting that the company was making good progress with its restructuring. Cost savings in the double-digit million Euro range have already been achieved for 2018 as a result of successful renegotiations including for aircraft leasing contracts and by lowering operating expenses. ‘There is quite simply no longer any need for a government guarantee to secure any loans,’ Winkelmann added.

As one of Europe’s largest network airlines, airberlin focuses on extremely frequent domestic flights and on services between a number of major European cities and its Berlin-Tegel and Dusseldorf hubs, from where the airline also operates long-haul flights to the US, Caribbean and Middle East. airberlin carried approximately 28.9 million passengers in 2016 and its fleet is among the most modern and eco-efficient in Europe. airberlin is a member of the oneworld® airline alliance, co-founder of Etihad Airways Partners and a strategic partner of Etihad Airways, which has a 29.21 percent share in airberlin. topbonus, the frequent flyer programme of airberlin, has more than 4,3 million members.

Hotel set to open in the Bavarian capital in December this year. 45-year old Thomas Fischer has been named as General Manager of the Steigenberger Hotel Munich. Himself a native of Munich, Mr. Fischer is able to offer wide-ranging experience in the hotel branch. He most recently worked as a General Manager for Corinthia Hotels & Resorts in London and Budapest, and prior to this fulfilled the same role for Kempinski Hotels & Resorts in cities including Frankfurt and Moscow.