Jetsettersblog

Cruz del Sur new routes from Peru

Arrival of foreign tourists increased by 12.3% in first quarter

In the first quarter of this year, Peru registered 502,942 arrivals of foreign tourists through the country’s borders, according to information provided by the General Directorate of Immigration and Naturalization (DIGEMIN) and analyzed by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism.

Inti Raymi will be translated into English, French and Spanish

For the first time, the Inti Raymi ceremony will be simultaneously translated into English, French and Spanish. Participants will receive translation equipment so that it will be easier for them understand this festivity, which is celebrated each June 24th. EMUFEC S.A., Cusco’s municipal company for festivities has placed 3,800 seats on sale to attend Inti Raymi in the esplanade of Sacsahuaman.

Historian maintains that Machu Picchu was discovered by a German in 1867

According to a study carried out by the historian Paolo Greer, the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu was discovered by the German Augusto Berns 44 years before the North American explorer Hiram Bingham arrived in the area (in 1911).

LAN Peru will increase flights from Trujillo to the city of Tumbes

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) informed that the airline Lan Peru announced its decision to operate flights to Tumbes. The flights will begin next June 25th and will be carried out as an extension of the flight that Lan Peru’s aircraft currently make to Trujillo.

Cruz del Sur new routes

Cruz del Sur will reopen the service Lima – Paracas – Ica – Nasca at 4.30 am (full day) and Nasca – Arequipa at 3 p.m. With these new frequencies, tourists and the general public will have more travel options besides those already existing to visit the circuit known as “the magical route of the south.”

Hotel Libertador Paracas will open at the beginning of 2009 after an investment of US$23 million

The inauguration of the new Hotel Libertador Paracas is scheduled for the first quarter of 2009 and will require an investment of US$23,055,752. It will have a constructed area of 17,197.88 m2 and 34,136.29 m2, with a new structure that will comply with the highest international standards.

Travel Impressions Offers Free Golf, Spa Treatments

Travel Impressions is offering a special promotion for golf and spa aficionados with its Back Nine & Spa Time package available at participating hotels and resorts in Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Arizona, California, and Central and South America.

Clients who book four nights or longer at a participating resort, such as the Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos, receive amenities that may include (depending upon hotel selected): a free round of golf; free golf equipment rental; a complimentary massage; 50 percent off spa treatments; free use of spa facilities.

The promotion is offered in addition to standard packages which feature roundtrip airport and hotel transfers, hotel accommodations, hotel tax and service. Clients who book an all-inclusive property will also enjoy all meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, non-motorized watersports, daily activities and nightly entertainment.

For more information, call 800-284-0044/631-845-8000, or visit www.travelimpressions.com

Ecoventura Partners with World Wildlife Fund

Ecoventura announced a new partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to reduce the detrimental effects of growing tourism in the fragile ecosystem of the Galapagos Islands.

The new collaboration, called The Galapagos Marine Biodiversity Fund (GMBF), will target environmental education and marine conservation by strengthening the local communities’ ability to manage natural resources. GMBF funds support the refit, maintenance and deployment of the Tiburon Martillo, a permanent floating surveillance and patrolling station within the Galapagos Marine Reserve.

It’s from here that park patrol boats will target, among other things, illegal industrial shark finning and long-line fishing.

Funds are also allocated to refurbish and maintain a speed boat that patrols the Bolivar channel between the western Islands of Fernandina and Isabela. The GMBF has also allocated funds to benefit families of local fishermen by supporting a microenterprise for the fisherman’s wives to manage.

This will provide an alternate means of income and also set an example to create other tourism related businesses and reduce the need to fish in waters already impacted by over-harvesting. A scholarship component for local children of fishermen from San Cristobal Island grants scholarships for two years to study Tourism, Environmental Science or Natural Resource Management at the University of San Francisco campus in the Galapagos.

To fund the GMBF, Ecoventura has pledged to raise close to $250,000 over the next three years. Passengers on its seven-day Galapagos cruises are also encouraged to donate to the fund during their trip. During each Ecoventura cruise, a local representative from WWF meets with passengers and gives a brief educational talk followed by questions and answers. Welsh said that while serving the interests of the environment, the partnership also empowers local residents through employment, education and related opportunities.

In operation since 1990, the cruise company transports more than 3,000 passengers annually aboard a fleet of four expedition vessels that have been purposefully retrofitted to highest possible environmental standards. In recognition of these pacesetting efforts, in 2005 the Rainforest Alliance presented Ecoventura President Santiago Dunn with its prestigious Individual Sustainable Standard-Setter award for making a significant contribution to environmental conservation and sustainability.

In 2006, Santiago was awarded the first annual Sustainable Travel Award from the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association (IGTOA). In 2006, Ecoventura also became the first Carbon Neutral operation in the Galapagos (and Ecuador). Carbon emissions from the company’s four yachts (and offices including business travel) are reduced, and then offset by contributions to a portfolio of projects through the US-based company NativeEnergy.

To receive a copy of Ecoventura’s 2008 catalog as well as information on tours to the Galapagos Islands, call 800-644-7972 or e-mail info@galapagosnetwork.com  To access current rates, schedules and itineraries, visit www.ecoventura.com

Saving The Amazon Top 6 Responsible Journeys

With WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY (05 June), the issue of saving the Amazon rainforest is more topical than ever. Last week, Peru announced the creation of its first Environment Ministry, dedicated to protecting the nation’s Amazon rainforest; while the Brazilian government stepped up its “Arc of fire” operation against illegal logging and deforestation.

All good stuff, on paper, but the resignation of Brazil’s Amazon Minister (Marina Silva) citing “difficulties in implementing the government’s environmental agenda”, reminds us that striking a balance between economic development and environmental protection continues to be a struggle. But responsible tourism and community-led conservation initiatives do offer some hope for the future.

“Top 6” RESPONSIBLE JOURNEYS in Latin America

1) POSADA AMAZONAS, Puerto Maldonado – PERU

A collaborative project set up by local operator Rainforest Expeditions, together with the Ese-Eja Amerindian community. After 20 years the lodge will be given over completely to the community; having been fully trained to run the lodge in guiding, cooking, accounts, finance and marketing. 60% of all income goes back to the community to fund education, health-care initiatives and protect the surrounding rainforest (10,000 hectares achieved) and its wildlife.

- Visit and support it: 3 nights from £191 pp + flights.

- Combine with: the Inca highlights of Cusco and Machu Picchu.

2) HUAORANI LODGE, Napo River - ECUADOR

A fantastic lodge with both community and conservation benefit, in a region which was threatened by oil companies. Similar in principle to the pioneering Kapawi lodge (also in Ecuador), it’s a 10-year collaborative project, set up by local operator Tropic, with the region’s Huaorani community. 5 comfortable palm-thatched cabins with private bathrooms, a hammock house and guided jungle excursions. Biodegradable products, solar power and a bio-filter for organic waste disposal.

- Visit and support it: 3 nights from £398 pp + flights.

- Combine with: colonial Quito and Andean markets, or a cruise in the Galapagos Islands.

3) SURAMA VILLAGE, Pacaraima savannah – GUYANA

The blueprint for community-led tourism and conservation in Guyana, and now being followed by other Amerindian communities. In an attempt to stem the exodus of villagers to the capital (Georgetown), Surama’s “Macushi” villagers, backed by local operator Wilderness Explorers, built a rustic lodge and hammock camp to offer hiking and dug-out canoe tours in the surrounding jungle. Provides a source of employment and income, aswell as an outlet for local produce and handicrafts.

- Visit it & support it: 12 night “Highlights of Guyana” (includes Surama) from £2235 pp + flights.

- Combine with: a visit to the Space Centre and Papillon’s Devil’s Island in French Guiana.

4) PUNTA ISLITA, Nicoya Peninsula – COSTA RICA

Proof that “Luxury” can also still be sustainable. An award-winning Pacific-coast hideaway, famed for its stunning natural setting, strong eco-credentials and impeccable service. Set in the middle of a 50-acre private tropical dry forest reserve, all produce is locally sourced and over 85% of staff are from the local villages. There are 32 luxurious rooms, suites and villas; and with a range of activities from horse riding and mountain biking, to enjoying the spa and amazing infinity pool.

- Visit it & support it: 7 nights from £688 pp + flights to San José.
- Combine with: a jungle lodge in Tortuguero or Corcovado, or the active Arenal volcano.

5) “VOLUNTARY ADVENTURES” – PERU, BRAZIL & PANAMA

New for 2008, Journey Latin America offers a range of short, tailor-made conservation projects. These projects give travellers the chance to volunteer their time as a much-needed “extra pair of hands” - assisting local conservation NGO’s with field studies and lab research. Offered as an “extension” to any of our holidays to the country - thus giving our clients the rare opportunity to support, and learn more about, the amazing eco-systems they’ve just visited on holiday.

- Visit it & support it: 4-night “Panama Adventure Project” from £500 pp + flights to Panama City. Help local NGO workers with data collection and field studies, and in their training of local farmers on forest preservation and alternative farming techniques.

- Combine with: the idyllic San Blas islands, the home of the semi-autonomous Kuna indians.

6) “COMMUNITY JOURNEYS” – PERU & CHILE

Two unique, new group tours from Journey Latin America, which aim to show the key highlights of the country, but with the emphasis on the communities you’re visiting. Where possible, you stay with local communities (in family homestays) rather than hotels, and are invited to participate in their daily lives - learning how they weave, cook, farm etc and helping out with their daily tasks. Offers an economic benefit to the communities and a valuable cultural exchange for both parties.

- Visit it & support it: 14-night “Chile Community Journey” from £1428 pp + flights to Santiago. Includes homestay on Isla Chiloe; ancient traditions, dunes and lagoons in the Atacama; and trekking in the awesome Torres del Paine national park in Patagonia.

- Combine with: a chance to see the mysterious moai statues on Easter Island.

JOURNEY LATIN AMERICA

Tel: 020 8747 8315 (London) and 0161 832 1441 (Manchester) or 1800 818 126 (Eire). www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk

NOTE – prices are based on double occupancy and include accommodation with some meals, land transfers, guided excursions and domestic flights where relevant. International flights are not included (unless stated otherwise), but can be provided if necessary.

Grupo Posadas to Open 15 New Properties

With a portfolio of 104 hotels and 19,042 guestrooms in fifty beach and city destinations throughout Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, Grupo Posadas has well established its positioning as one of Latin America’s leading hotel operators.

After successfully launching seven new hotels in 2007, including the debut of its lifestyle brand Aqua at Aqua Cancun, Posadas looks forward to the opening of fifteen new properties in 2008. Scheduled to debut this spring is the Caesar Park Buenos Aires Obelisco, named for its location in front of the 220-foot monument standing in Buenos Aires.

Following in the footsteps of its sister property, Aqua Cancun, which debuted late last year, Aqua Bosques will open its doors in Mexico City. In the business and economy categories, Posadas’ Fiesta Inn and One Hotels look forward to thirteen openings this year. Fiesta Inn will expand its portfolio from 58 to 66 offerings.

For additional information, visit www.posadas.com

Air Europa new Latin American Flights

Spanish airline Air Europa has opened a UK sales office to support new scheduled services from Gatwick.

The carrier is to run double daily flights to Madrid, with connections onto an expanding long haul network to South and Central America, and the Caribbean.

Air Europa is already well known in the UK market for its European charter services and is expanding its long haul scheduled service network.

Destinations available this summer include Buenos Aires, Salvador De Bahia, Caracas, Santo Domingo, Punto Cana, Cancun and Havana.

Tickets are also available on the connecting flights between Gatwick and Madrid which are operated on an Air Comet Airbus 320.

The scheduled departure times from Gatwick are 10.10 and 17.40 each day of the week.

Air Europa head of international sales María del Mar Ayudarte, said: “The UK market to Latin America is booming and the specialist UK tour operators here are amongst the best in the world.

“Air Europa is well known as a holiday airline to the Mediterranean and our challenge is to make it equally well known as the best way to Latin America, We believe we can do this by working closely with the travel trade here in the UK.”

Crystal December Wellness Cruises

Crystal Cruises is introducing two “Mind, Body & Spirit” cruises this December. Programming incorporates lectures, classes and workshops given by leading experts and instructors from The Cleveland Clinic, Tai Chi Cultural Institute and the line’s exclusive Walk on Water program. The “Mind, Body & Spirit” focus is set for Crystal Symphony’s Dec. 7 South America voyage from Los Angeles to Valparaiso, Chile, and Crystal Serenity’s Dec. 12 Panama Canal cruise from Caldera, Costa Rica, to Miami.

The guest experts will cover topics from medical treatment and prevention, to spiritual healing and growth through tai chi and yoga, to the physical and mental fulfillment of strenuous exercise.

The Crystal Symphony’s “South American Sojourn” will feature the following experts: Dr. Donald Malone, a Cleveland Clinic instructor and staff psychiatrist who will speak about wellness in relation to mind, body and spirit; Dr. John McMichan, Mayo Clinic staff physician specializing in critical care medicine, anesthesiology and medical education;

Dr. Martin Lee, a Sanford University physicist who with his wife, Emily Lee, founded the Tai Chi Cultural Center in 1974; Debbie Rocker, founder of Crystal’s exclusive Walk on Water program featuring the Walkvest Training System, revolutionizing walking by adding weight resistance; Richard Deutsch, author of “One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome; Cathy L. Greenberg, PhD, author of “What Happy Women Know,” “What Happy Companies Know,” “What Happy Parents Know” and “What Happy Leaders Know.”

The Crystal Serenity’s “Caribbean Jewels” cruise features the following speakers: Jim Karras, author of “The Business Plan for the Body” and a fitness contributor on ABC’s “Good Morning America”; Dr. Leslie Cho, director of The Cleveland Clinic’s Women’s cardiovascular center; Sandra Shaner, a teacher certified by the Yoga Institute and a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance; Mollie Epstein, who oversees the Walk on Water program for Crystal; and Jeff Corbett of the Tai Chi Cultural Center.

Crystal is offering several shore excursions catering to its wellness-minded guests, such as a kayaking eco-adventure in Cabo San Lucas, a hike through Caldera’s tropical rainforest and power snorkeling in Grand Turk and a day’s retreat to a resort and spa in St. Barts. Crystal recently launched “Tour de Spin,” a complimentary indoor cycling program that mirrors stages of the Tour de France. Cruise fares for Crystal Symphony’s 15-day wellness voyage begin at $3,450; Crystal Serenity’s 12-day Panama Canal voyage is priced from $3,550, per person, double occupancy.

Royal Caribbean Returns to South America Cruising

Royal Caribbean International is returning to South America in winter 2009-2010 with nine 11- to 15-cruises aboard Radiance of the Seas. Bookings opened Thursday. Four-night pre- or post-cruise cruise-tours give guests the opportunity to explore Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Iguazu Falls along the Argentina and Brazil border.

Cruise-tours are escorted and include deluxe hotel accommodations, air and ground transfers, certain meals, and time for individual pursuits. Six cruises will go around the horn of South America and through the Straits of Magellan.

These 12- to 14-night itineraries alternate departures from Valparaiso, Chile, and Buenos Aires, featuring a cruise through the glacier-filled Chilean fjords, and a call at Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. Three sailings include a shipboard overnight in Buenos Aires at the beginning or end of the cruise.

An 11-night itinerary, departing on Feb. 10, 2010, features three days in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for Carnival. The cruise is round-trip from Buenos Aires and includes an overnight on the ship.

Two Pacific equatorial crossings sail from San Diego to Valparaiso on Nov. 21, 2009, and return on March 7, 2010.

For more information, call 800-327-2056 or visit www.cruisingpower.com

Classic South America

An 18-day, full-board adventure to two iconic cities – Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

The first part of this holiday begins in Rio de Janeiro (the Marvellous City) and embraces visits to Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf Mountain and the Copacabana.

From Rio, one travels down the coast to the paradise island of Ilha Grande and thence on through winding jungle paths as far as Parati, a colonial boom town built on the back of gold. Other highlights include, the spectacular Iguazu Falls (from both the Brazilian and Argentine sides).

Continuing south and west one travels through Argentina to Posadas and onto the Carlos Pellegrini Park – where one can enjoy all manner of wildlife in this aquatic wonderland.

Next on the agenda is Buenos Aires – home of the tango and asado, the Casa Rosada and Eva Peron !

Accommodation is in comfortable tourist class hotels and lodges.

Price from £2,358 per person includes flights, transfers, half-board accommodation and the services of a tour leader.

Bookings – Ramblers Worldwide Holidays 01707 331133 www.ramblersworldwideholidays.co.uk

For further information regarding the complete Ramblers Worldwide Holidays portfolio please view the brochures on-line at www.ramblersworldwideholidays.co.uk  or for a new brochure please contact Caro Hembling at Graham Ross Public Relations 01255 670661 or grahamross1@btconnect.com

Tourico Holidays to Latin America

Tourico Holidays, Inc., a leading distributor of global wholesale travel inventory, is intensifying its efforts in Latin America this quarter by expanding the presence of its regional product team.

This restructure allows Latin American hoteliers to gain exposure and increase sales from a worldwide audience through Tourico Holidays’ ever-growing client base. Spearheading the initiative is Guido Salvatori, Tourico Holidays’ new director of product development for Latin America. “Our new plan will ensure the Latin American region experiences the very same consistency with the expansion of our hotel product inventory and the most competitive rates and availability afforded us through strategic alliances with new hotels and other travel partners,” said Salvatori.

To grow Tourico Holidays’ presence in the region, Salvatori will be expanding his seasoned team with the addition of the best and brightest industry visionaries from across Central and South America. This regional focus also stretches beyond the development of dedicated personnel.

“Our office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been expanded as the official Latin American Headquarters for Tourico Holidays,” said Salvatori. Located at Edificio Bouchard Plaza, Bouchard 599 Piso 20, the main office in Buenos Aires (1106) is one of three locations maintained in South America, including operations in Sao Paulo and Curitiba, Brazil.

For more information, visit www.TouricoHolidays.com