2003 Travel News Archive – Page 20

Air Canada declared bankruptcy protection in Toronto in order to start a major restructuring plan. Canada?s largest airline made the announcement after failing to reach an agreement with its workers. The airline was already hurting from the lull in the US economy when 9/11, wars in the Middle East and now the SARS virus scare …

Read more…

American Airlines (AA), the biggest airline in the US, has been on the brink of bankruptcy for weeks now. The airline announced reaching important agreements with its pilot, flight attendant and mechanics unions to achieve US$1.8 billion in employee cost savings, a major step to avert an otherwise imminent filing with the bankruptcy court this …

Read more…

Francisco Perez, marketing director for Catalonia Bavaro Resort, and Manuel Serrano, marketing director for the Dominican Republic for Iberostar both concur the end of the season could hardly have worked out better for hotels in Punta Cana. Perez says that through the end of the month bookings are averaging 84% at Catalonia. And Serrano says …

Read more…

The spotlight of the US sports press is on Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs again as he goes to bat for his 500th homerun. He begins the season with a 499 mark. With one more homer, Sosa will become the 18th member of the 500-homer club and the first Hispanic player. Around 80 Dominicans …

Read more…

The National Speed Racing Championship starts this Sunday, 6 April at the tracks of the Las Americas Autodrome on Las Americas Expressway. Miller International Racing is sponsoring the championship this year. Organizers also announced that this year a GT Dominican-Puerto Rican Car Racing Championship will take place with the best drivers from both countries competing …

Read more…

Diario Libre highlights the issue of the Dominican Republic’s strict drug laws, and the fact that many tourists are unaware of their rigid nature. Tough penalties for visitors who break the law can have a negative impact on the country’s image. For this reason, information about the drug laws are to be made available at …

Read more…

AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, the world’s biggest carrier, may seek bankruptcy protection as early as this week in part because of the war in Iraq if cost-savings efforts fail to match the drop in revenue. The airline seeks to avoid bankruptcy but needs to restructure more than US$27 billion in debt and stem losses that …

Read more…

Rancho Cumayasa, the equestrian center-river ranch midway between La Romana and San Pedro de Macoris, honored the union of Central America and the Caribbean last Saturday. With the hoisting of flags of El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the eco tourism vacation center symbolically paid tribute to the close relations with …

Read more…

Slow Food, the organization that educates in matters of gastronomy and preaches a slower lifestyle, is active in the Dominican Republic. An educational tour of the Carrefour mega-store located on Autopista Duarte was held on Saturday and was followed up by an eight-course dinner prepared by French chef Perez at the restaurant of the School …

Read more…

Johnny Bernal, president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association, told Hoy newspaper that hotels have not reported any significant cancellations of their bookings. He said that while the volume of reservations for the summer season is below normal levels, he nevertheless pointed out that the end of April and May are normally ?shoulder weeks? …

Read more…