Articles

Brazil announced further details of the concessions up for bid at Guarulhos, Brasília and Viracopos airports in a conference call Thursday afternoon. The Latin America Report took part in a call with Brazil’s Secretary of Civil Aviation Wagner Bittencourt who said it was essential the country involve private firms in order to have airports ready [...]

Duty free sales in the region remain strong with double-digit growth in the past few months. According to Asutil (South American duty free association) Secretary General José Luis Donagaray, sales remain strong as the region enters into its busy summer season. Donagaray also confirms the hotels for the 2012 Asutil conference, June 6-9 in Iguazú [...]

Work on a new airport terminal in São Paulo has been stopped, after a judge deemed there was no bidding process involved. Local media in Brazil report a judge stopped construction at Guarulhos airport because it set a dangerous precedent of bypassing regulations for the sake of urgency. Brazilian airport authority Infraero awarded the $US700 [...]

A survey conducted for NCR Corporation, a global technology company, finds that consumers have ample time once they clear security to take advantage of a growing number of airport amenities. “Airports, once a transition point, are now becoming more of a destination, seeking to drive additional revenues by catering to travelers’ needs,” said Tyler Craig, [...]

It came as no surprise to me when I read tonight that Halifax’s international airport is again being recognized for its customer service. What happened to me there last week was what every traveller should have the pleasure of experiencing. Airports Council International (ACI) will induct the small airport in Canada’s province of Nova Scotia [...]

A 28-year concession to build an airport in the northern Brazil city of Natal has been won by Inframérica. The consortium, comprised of Brazil’s Grupo Engevix and Argentina’s Corporación America, had a successful bid of US$106 million to build the facility, Brazil’s first privately run international airport, in time for the 2014 World Cup which [...]

Brazilian carrier GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes recorded demand growth of 16.2 percent on its total route network in July, accompanied by an increase in the load factor to 75.8 percent. GOL’s domestic market demand grew by 19.6 percent over July 2010, in turn due to airline industry capacity growth, says the company. Demand on GOL’s [...]

Bacardi Global Travel Retail announces the launch of Bacardi Oakheart, which it describes as “the most noteworthy product introduction from Bacardi since the launch of Bacardi Limón more than a decade ago.” On the verge of its 150th anniversary, the introduction of Bacardi Oakheart reaffirms the brand’s leadership position in rum with expressions now across [...]

Only a few days remain before the deadline for pre-registration for the annual TFWA World Exhibition in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes. The exhibition runs from September 18-23. The pre-registration deadline is August 18, after which anyone wishing to attend will have to register on arrival. TFWA is pleased that pre-registrations for the exhibition and [...]

Dufry’s purchase of three duty free operations in the region is a good sign of prosperity, according to Asutil Secretary General José Luis Donagaray. He told The Latin America Report Dufry’s investment “shows business is growing,” adding July sales in the region have surpassed those in July 2010. “(The acquisitions) are good news for us,” [...]

A team of leading U.S. archaeologists have discovered the wreckage of a ship they believe to be part of Captain Henry Morgan’s lost fleet at the mouth of the Chagres River in Panama. Near the Lajas Reef, where Morgan lost five ships in 1671, including his flagship Satisfaction, the team uncovered roughly 52×22 feet of the [...]

Portland Design welcomes Gemma Ball as its new Insights & Research Manager.Ball is a former Senior Researcher at GDR, a London-based global design and trends consultancy. “I am delighted to welcome Gemma to the team. All our design work is based on consumer trends and research and Gemma will help us develop and formalise this [...]

Butlers chocolates will showcase its new deluxe gifting packs at this year’s TFWA WE show in Cannes. Butlers chocolates will have a new stand in the Green Village, as well as participating on the Bord Bia (Ireland) stand in the Mediterranean Village. The company will also introduce its dark premium collection.

São Paulo-Guarulhos and Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airports are two of four airports Pernod Ricard have premiered its new super-premium vodka Absolut Elyx. The Brazilian airports, along with airports in Sydney and Frankfurt, are featuring prominent installations and tastings until the end of August. Pernod Ricard says the launches are geared to creating fanfare for [...]

Women in Travel (WiT) will host a fundraiser to benefit a school for children with disabilities in Ramnagar at the group’s meeting at this year’s TFWA WE exhibition in Cannes. Ramnagar is located in the northeast corner of India in Uttrakhand State, identified has having almost 200,000 people with special needs, ranging from mental illness [...]

DKNY adds to its perfume range with DKNY Golden Delicious. Echoing its name, DKNY Golden Delicious is a gold transformation of the iconic Be Delicious bottle. It is available in 30, 50 and 100 ml sizes in travel retail worldwide in August.

London’s Heathrow airport reports a surge in passengers flying to Brazil. According to the airport’s June passenger traffic report, “Brazil, with its vibrant economy providing significant growth opportunities for UK businesses, was the strongest performing individual market, seeing a 65.4% growth in passengers over June 2010.”

More, more, more. It’s what delegates at last week’s Asutil conference are asking for when it comes to networking time. José Luis Donagaray, Asutil Secretary General, tells The Latin America Report that feedback from the end of conference survey averaged “very satisfied”, with additional comments about the desire for more networking time, possibly added on [...]

Attendance at next week’s Asutil conference in Cancun is approaching 300 people. Anyone wishing to attend can still go online and register at http://conferencia2011.asutil.org. The social activity on Saturday following the conference will be a trip to the Tulum ruins and Xel-Há, a natural aquarium. There are limited spaces for Saturday’s event. Confirmation must be sent [...]

IATA (International Air Transport Association) has more than halved its industry net profits forecast to $4 billion citing higher fuel costs, unrest in the Middle East and Africa and natural disasters in Japan. The association downgraded its profits expectations for the year from the $8.6 billion it had been forecasting in March to $4 billion. [...]

Awards for new fragrances, those that have captured customer loyalty for 15 years, celebrity fragrances and more were handed out last night in New York at The Fifi Awards. Considered the Oscars of the fragrance industry, the annual event is sponsored by The Fragrance Foundation and honours the industry and its achievements. Gucci Guilty won [...]

The upcoming Asutil conference has already surpassed the number of delegates who attended last year’s event. Asutil Secretary General José Luis Donagaray told The Latin America Report more than 260 people have registered for the event in Cancun, June 22-25 at the J.W. Marriott. Conference organizers have already made arrangements to house overflow delegates at [...]

Approximately two billion new middle-class consumers from China, India and Brazil are expected to begin travelling over the next two decades. This was one of the discussions at the World Travel and Tourism Council three-day summit in Las Vegas last week, which drew more than 1,000 delegates from the international tourism and travel sectors. ”We’ll [...]

Teriyaki Experience, an Asian-inspired quick serve concept recognized for being the healthy alternative to traditional fast food, opened its second airport location last month at the Tocumen Airport in Panama. The new location is part of an aggressive plan to internationally expand and develop into airport terminals, says the Canadian company. The restaurant is already [...]

South America and South Asia lead world tourist arrival numbers for the first two months of 2011, with increases of 15 percent over the same period last year. According to the UN World Tourism Barometer, growth was positive in all regions, with the exception of the Middle East and North Africa. Following Latin America and [...]