Tourism

• Sunday, April 8th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Greek cruise captain blames disaster on “strong currents”

  The Greek captain of the cruise vessel “Sea Diamond” which sank last Friday, speaking on Sunday to government run Greek television denied responsibility for the incident and blamed strong sea currents for the disaster.

• Saturday, April 7th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Sunken Greek cruise ship's skipper arraigned; two passengers still missing

  

  The captain of a Greek cruise ship that sank in the Aegean Sea was due to appear before a prosecutor on Saturday as coastguards continued to search for two missing French tourists, the Greek merchant marine ministry said.

• Friday, April 6th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Sinking cruise ship evacuated off Greece

  

  A listing cruise ship carrying nearly 1,600 people was evacuated safely Thursday after it struck rocks and began taking on water off the Greek island of Santorini, authorities said.

• Thursday, April 5th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Varig Brazil launches New Air Passes

  

  Varig Brazil has launched two new Economy Class Air Passes — one covering the 15 destinations served by the airline within Brazil, and the second for flights within the Mercosur Region, which covers five South American countries.

• Wednesday, March 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Lan Chile Airbus has near miss from Russian Space Junk

  

  Pieces of space junk from a Russian satellite coming out of orbit narrowly missed hitting a jetliner over the Pacific Ocean overnight.

• Monday, March 26th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Cruise vessel rescues young couple that fell overboard

  

  A young couple fell overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday, but both were rescued after a four-hour search and appeared to be in good condition, a cruise line spokeswoman said.

• Sunday, March 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina's summer season foreign tourism grows 20.6%

  The number of foreign tourists visiting Argentina during the month of February had an inter-annual increase of 22% and accumulated a 20.6% expansion in the first two months of 2007, according to official sources.

• Sunday, March 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Lan Chile signs contract for 15 Airbus A320

  

  LAN Chile Airlines has signed a firm contract with Airbus for the acquisition of 15 additional A320 Family aircraft. This is a confirmation of the options that were announced in October 2005.

• Sunday, March 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean tourism industry turnover in 2 months, 2.4 billion

  

  The tourism industry in Chile generated 2.4 billion US dollars during the 2006/07 summer season according to Oscar Santelices, head of the country's National Tourism Service, Sernatur.

• Sunday, March 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  US tourism expands 8% in fourth quarter 2006

  The United States tourism industry grew at an annual 8% in the fourth quarter of 2006, the highest since the first quarter of 2005, according to a Commerce Department release.