March, 2005 www.LatinEPR.com LatinEPR News Wire
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COMMUNICATIONS/MEDIA
Newspaper Diario Siete Launched in Chile
Diario Siete is the newest Chilean periodical to hit newsstands this year. Published by Epresa and Copesa, the newspaper claims to have no affiliation with any political, financial, or religious groups and is headed by Ex-Minister Genaro Arriagada, co-founder of Siete+7 magazine and owner of the COPESA consorsium.
MTV Networks Latinoamerica Set to Expand
MTV Networks Latinoamerica, subdivision of Viacom International, has engaged J&M Comunicaciones and Regional Network in Colombia and Venezuela, respectively, to act as local sales representatives for the company and expand the company’s presence in the region.
Reuters Newsletter Exclusively for Latin America
Reuters has launched Reuters Update, a bimonthly newsletter exclusive to Reuter’s Latin American clients. In addition to select interviews and region-specific news briefs, the newsletter will contain a special entertainment section. Reuters Update will be made available to its clients in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.
Growth of Online Ads Hits High Speed
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY - “Demand for online video ads by Ford Motor, Colgate-Palmolive and others will contribute to a breakout year for online advertising in 2005 — and spell trouble for newspapers and TV, financial analysts say.
A surge in text ads on search sites Google and Yahoo — combined with more high-speed Internet users — also will help push online ad spending over $10 billion for the first time, analysts say. It would mark the second-consecutive year that online ad spending in the USA improves 20%. The last medium to grow that fast was cable TV from 1988-90, says analyst David Hallerman of researcher eMarketer. Entertainment, drug and auto ads are among the fastest-growing segments, says a Goldman Sachs report. It says online ads are becoming a "permanent component" of major ad campaigns — a distressing development for older media. "The online market could have phenomenal growth doing nothing more than taking revenue from newspapers and TV," says Royal Farros, CEO of MessageCast, a developer of online news alerts.
Newspaper circulation woes will continue in 2005, says a Merrill Lynch report. And cuts at major advertisers Sears and Kmart "could take their toll." This year, online ads will make up 4% of the overall U.S. ad market, up from 3.5% last year, eMarketer says. Behind the breakneck growth:
•Paid searches. Google and Yahoo lead in targeted text ads that appear next to search results. Advertisers love it because they pay only when a consumer clicks on the ad, and they can easily collect information about consumer habits. Traditional media require upfront fees and take longer to process consumer data. "Sponsored search has become a staple of major ad budgets," says Ted Meisel at Yahoo, which has deals with Hewlett-Packard, Office Depot and others. At Google, more than half of revenue — about $400 million during its quarter ended in September — came from advertising on Google.com.
•Big online audiences. Yahoo and America Online average a daily audience of about 35 million people — dwarfing the top-rated network TV shows. But they charge up to $300,000 for 24 hours. When there are rare opportunities to reach a mega-audience in the highly fragmented TV market, they are costly. This year's Super Bowl broadcast commands $2.4 millionper 30-second spot.
•High-speed. More than half of Americans online now use fast broadband connections, says Nielsen/NetRatings. That has led to more visual ads. Although advertisers are smitten with the Internet, they aren't ready to ditch TV. Allstate this month launched an online ad campaign to complement TV ads on 24, Fox TV's series.”
LATIN AMERICAN TRAVEL AND TOURISM STATS AND NEWS BRIEFS
New York Guyanese Community Aids Flood Victims
The Guyanese community in New York is working with Counterpart International, a US non-profit human development organization, to bring relief to the thousands of people affected by floods in Guyana this past January. Emergency medical and sanitation supplies have already been sent to the worst affected areas, where thousands are evacuated from their homes. Although water levels in some of Guyana’s rivers are slowly falling, bordering villages remain vulnerable to epidemics.
Panama Revitalizes Historic Old Quarter
Panama’s Old Quarter, El Casco Antiguo, is about to experience a renaissance thanks to a new government revitalization project, which plans to bring new life to the heavily populated area through renovation, modernized infrastructure, and improved living conditions for its residents. The project is designed to draw visitors back to the colonial quarter, which houses among other important historic buildings the Presidential Palace.
Tourists Account For 10% of Rio’s Population During Carnaval
Rio de Janeiro estimates that Carnaval tourism raised the city’s population by 10% during the festival. The number of visitors is a significant increase, considering the Brazilian city already has more than 6 million inhabitants.
Uruguay’s Carnaval Largest in the World
For years, the largest Carnaval celebration in the world has been held annually in Montevideo, Uruguay. The festival began this year on January 21st and will last more than 40 days and comprise a full schedule of events. Perhaps the highlight of the entire celebration is the traditional opening parade, which runs through the city center and includes 69 groups of entertainers, among them murgas, revistas, comparsas de negros and lubolos. Accompanying these cultural acts are indigenous and traditional drum music ensembles.
"Guatemala, soul of the earth"
Guatemala's Tourist Commission (INGUAT) has released the new country brand image, "Guatemala, soul of the earth". The logo and slogan were revealed after an eight-month international study led by Interbrand Corporation. INGUAT's objective was to create a logo that would represent a synergy of Guatemala's core values and origin. Research identified mysticism, diversity, authenticity, evolution, and closeness as being all central to Guatemala’s character.
2004 Success For Puerto Rico Tourism Sector
The Puerto Rican leisure industry closed 2004 averaging 78.9 % hotel occupancy, up nearly three percentage points from the year before. The Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association (PRHTA) announced that the final tally for the island nation’s economy was $4.9 billion, up 42% from 2003. The local hospitality sector now accounts for 6.6% of the GNP.
Sky Airlines Announces Service to Peru
The Chilean air carrier Sky Airlines has plans for more flights this year to Peru and Ecuador. Among possible partners the airline has contacted for its expansion are AeroCondor.
Most Exotic Destinations
It seems many Latin American countries are becoming fashionably exotic travel destinations. The Nuba Travel Agency, which specializes in exotic vacations, revealed that the most popular destinations for 2004 were Tanzania, Vietnam, Patagonia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
Higher Profits for Chilean Tourism in 2004
In 2004, Chile’s 1.8 million foreign visitors spent $1.2 billion in, according to a recent report released by the South American nation´s National Tourism Service (SERNATUR). Chile’s local tourist sector was successful as well with 10% more revenues in 2004 than the year before.
Peacekeeping Troops Boost DR’s Local Economy
According to the Dominican evening newspaper El Nacional, UN peacekeeping troops stationed in Haiti have been boosting the Caribbean nation’s neighboring local economy. It seems more than a thousand troops travel to the Dominican Republic on leave monthly, elevating the tourism revenue of many towns and seaside resorts.
Argentines Kick Off Uruguay’s Summer Season
Argentines visiting Uruguay during the first two weeks of the 2005 summer season accounted for 33% of all tourism revenues, reported Uruguay’s Tourism Ministry.
Mexican Tourism Profits From Private Investment
Private investment into Mexico’s tourism industry in 2004 reached US$2.25 billion, a 38.5% increase over the previous year. With US$6.9 billion privately invested in the past four years alone, analysts project the positive trend to continue, bringing the total to US$9 billion by 2006.
Galapagos Prohibits International Fishing Competition
Plans to stage an international fishing competition off the Galapagos Islands were prohibited by the Galapagos National Park (PNG), which has prohibited the use of the archipelago’s waters for such contests.
Hotel Boom in Argentina Continues
Argentina’s hotel industry had experienced a boom over the past couple of years, and 2005 promises the planned construction of 150 hotels worth US$540.5 million in the country’s major tourist areas. Last year saw the construction of 47 hotels, creating 4000 addition hotel rooms.
Aerolíneas Argentinas Returns To Mexico After 14 Years
Alter a 14-year absence, Aerolíneas Argentinas resumed service between Argentina and Mexico on February 4th, 2005. Starting March, the Buenos Aires-Mexico City route with stopovers in Lima will carry one thousand passengers weekly.
Land of Cigars, Cuba Passes Smoking Ban
Starting February 7, smoking was officially prohibited in Cuba’s theaters, stores, buses, taxis and other enclosed public areas. Under a new resolution published in the National Gazette by the Commerce Ministry, the ban includes indoor restaurants, except for designated smoking areas. Cigarette machines are being taken down as well. However, there is no word on whether or not the ban extends to bars.
EU & Latinamerica
(Mercopress) “European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso promised to step up the bloc's trans-Atlantic efforts because "it is important that Europe does not disappoint our friends in Latin America". The former Prime Minister of Portugal added it was "very important for (Latin Americans) to be able to look to Europe and find a concrete response to their aspirations".
“We are working on trade matters because it is one of the areas where our friends in Latin America are asking us most for results, and also we want to cooperate on concrete support for integration, for example with Mercosur" underlined Mr. Durao Barroso.
EU has signed association accords including free trade, political dialogue and cooperation with Mexico, in 2000, and Chile in 2002, and is currently negotiating a similar agreement with Mercosur, -Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay-. Additionally this week a preliminary evaluation process on the degree of integration among the Central American and Andean countries was launched with the purpose of opening similar negotiations with both regions.
"It is important that Europe does not disappoint our friends in Latin America who are looking towards Europe". "We know Latin America well. From the cultural point of view they are closer to us - to the Iberian Peninsula - than, for example, to the United States," said the EC president.”
Venezuela & Colombia
President Hugo Chavez demanded that Colombia apologize for violating Venezuela's sovereignty and announced that until Bogota makes amends all agreements and bilateral affairs will be frozen. Chavez said that Bogota violated Venezuela's sovereignty with the Dec. 13 kidnapping in Caracas of Rodrigo Granda, the unofficial foreign minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that nation's largest Marxist rebel group. Colombia maintained that Granda was arrested in the Colombian city of Cucuta and has admitted that it paid a reward for information that led to his apprehension.
A lady president for Chile
Another woman has been nominated as pre-candidate for the Chilean presidential elections scheduled for next December. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Soledad Alvear from the Christian Democratic Party, junior partner of Chile’s ruling coalition, clearly defeated senior Senator Adolfo Zaldivar by ten points during last national executive vote. The nomination of Ms. Alvear increased the possibilities that a woman will become Chile’s next president when Mr. Ricardo Lagos six year term comes to an end in March 2006. In effect, the other leading pre candidate belonging to the Socialist majority in the ruling coalition is former Defence Minister Ms. Michelle Bachelet who has a comfortable lead in the opinion polls, ahead of Ms. Alvear, and of the main Conservative opposition candidate and former mayor of Santiago Joaquin Lavin.
Tourism Top Nicaraguan Export
Nicaragua’s tourism industry grew by 9.8% this past year, supplanting coffee as the country’s top export. While coffee took in US$117 million in revenue for 2004, tourism earned more than US$160 million.
Panama: Ruben Blades to Organize Carnival in 2006
Panama’s Tourism Minister, Ruben Blades, has announced intentions to supervise Carnival celebration in the capital city in 2006. Although Blades describes the existing celebrations as excellent, he believes the country’s tourism would benefit from improved organization, and has made the provision that proposals for Carnival 2006 be submitted 6 months prior to the event.
Chile Top Destination For Peruvians
One in four Peruvians traveling abroad in 2004 choose their Andean neighbor, Chile, displacing the United States as Peru’s number one vacation destination.
Santo Domingo Chinatown
DR1 – “Nationals from Taiwan and Popular China are working together to create Chinatown in the Duarte Avenue and Benito Gonzalez Street area of Santo Domingo. The expanded area would include nearby streets the Mexico and Mella avenues and Jacinto de la Concha and Jose Marti that are also already popular for Chinese food and articles. The program calls for enhancements such as a large arch and signs in Chinese. There are plans for a pedestrian area, too. Rosa Ng, a daughter of Chinese immigrants, is the leading promoter of the project that has the support of Santo Domingo Major Roberto Salcedo and the Ministry of Tourism. She estimates the project could get started with a US$3.5 million investment. The investment in real estate would be less than one would expect, because already most of the buildings in the area are owned by persons of Chinese descent that would join in the effort. She explained the goal is for the Santo Domingo Chinatown to become a large shopping area but at the same time a tourism attraction for Dominicans and tourists alike. It would be a central point for the Chinese community in the DR. She estimates that the Chinese colony in the DR is about 15,000 strong.”
China concentrates investments in Latinamerica
Mercopress – “China's overseas direct investment in 2004 reached 37 billion US dollars, half of which in Latinamerica, reported in Beijing China’s Trade and Investment Ministry. The main areas of Chinese interest were mining, trade related services, manufacturing plus wholesale and retail trade indicated the official release. But despite Beijing’s increasing overseas investments China remains as the largest recipient of foreign investments totalling 60,6 billion US dollars last year, a 13% increase over 2003. China has moved aggressively into Latin America one of the few regions in the world which enjoys a trade surplus with the Asian giant.”
Spain targets Latin America
Spain is now the second-largest investing nation in Latin America, accounting for nearly half of all funds poured into the region by European Union countries. According to Spanish Tourism and Commerce Secretary, Pedro Mejia, Spain intends to fortify and increase its long-term investments. Spanish hotels already comprise 44 percent of all foreign accommodations in Latin America, with more than 200 lodgings. Mr. Mejia revealed that tourism will be one of Spain’s strategic and top-priority lines between 2005 and 2008.
Mexico, Thailand and U.K. Winners at FITUR 2005
Mexico, Thailand and Great Britain won the prize in the Best Stand Category during the Madrid International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2005).
LOOK IT UP
http://www.ipsnews.net/latin.asp
Interpress Service News Agency
Latin American and Caribbean Information Center
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/latin_america_and_caribbean/index.cfm
Conservation and Environmental News from Latin America
CURIOSIDADES
Thinning Glaciers
(Mercopress) – “Scientists from BAS, US National Science Foundation and the University of Texas embarked on an airborne geophysical survey of Antarctica, following the discovery of rapid thinning in two major glaciers in the Amundsen Sea of the West Antarctic ice sheet.
The scientists collected data from Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. The IPCC's predicted future sea level rise in 2001 was based on the assumption that the Antarctic ice sheet would not make a significant contribution over the next one hundred years. However, BAS scientists said that this area IS contributing, but could not confirm whether this would be a short-term development or if it was a result of recent or ancient climate change.
In 2002, 500 billion tonnes of ice from the Larsen B self broke up into thousands of small icebergs. The latest research shows that the glaciers that fed the ice shelf have accelerated and thinned dramatically, as a result of the ice shelf collapse. Scientists suggested that ice shelves may have an important role in stabilising the ice sheet in Antarctica and warned that the future loss of the largest ice shelves in the Antarctic could eventually cause accelerated and dramatic sea level rise.”
Brazil protects millions of hectares of Amazon
www.panda.org - “Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced the creation of two new major protected areas in the Amazon, making it one of the world's most ambitious conservation efforts to date. The decision to protect 3.7 million hectares in the Terra do Meio Ecological Station (3.3 million ha) and the Serra do Pardo National Park (445,000 ha) was made in an effort to fight deforestation and land conflicts in the Brazilian State of Para.
"Conservation in the Amazon takes a giant step forward with this decree," said Carter Roberts, Chief Conservation Officer with WWF-US. "With these two critical pieces in place, we are creating a mosaic of contiguous protected areas, reserves, and indigenous territories connecting the savannah ecosystem of the south to the rain forests of the central Amazon."