October 1, 2005        www.LatinEPR.com          LatinEPR News Wire

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COMMUNICATIONS/MEDIA

 

Grupo Clarín Buys 25% of Cablevision

 

This August, Argentina’s largest media conglomerate, Grupo Clarin, announced the purchase of a 25% stake in Cablevision, the country’s leading cable company.   In the first semester of 2005, Cablevision registered a 6.1% increase in subscriptions as well as 18.9% growth in revenues, and the company currently counts more than 1.3 million subscribers.

 

Argentina Hosts World Young Reader Conference 2005

 

Buenos Aires hosted the 6th World Young Reader Conference, September 18-21, 2005.  The annual event organized by the World Association of Newspapers, presents the best of new editorial and marketing approaches for attracting younger readers, and featured some of the world’s best examples of ‘young reader’ and ‘newspapers in education’ strategies.  Many of these came from Latin America, where newspapers have long depended on innovative strategies to target young readers because of the region’s relatively young population. 

 

Webnovela – The Next Generation of Television Drama

 

(Tiempos del Mundo) - AllTV.com.br, the internet television site from Brazil and the only one of its kind in the world to offer 24-hour programming, is introducing the first soap opera online – webnovela.  According to Leandro Barbieri, director of the new web drama for allTV, Umas e Outras, the concept behind this innovative format is to make the telenovela an interactive form of entertainment.  Each episode will be followed by a 45-minute chat session, where the audience can submit suggestions to the writers for what happens next.  This way, every one feels they have some control over the characters and the outcome of the drama.  Of course, the creators of the show are aware that a lot of input could prove too much, but expectations are high for the project, which will be accompanied by a book and ‘behind the scenes’ documentary upon its release.

 

ABC Caters to Burgeoning Latino Market

 

ABC has announced that it will offer all of its prime-time entertainment programming in either dubbed or subtitled Spanish this fall season.  Four shows, including the hit dramas Lost and Desperate Housewives, as well as some specials and showings of theatrical movies will be dubbed into Spanish.  The remainder of ABC’s programming will be close-captioned in Spanish. ABC wants to attract the 41 million-strong US Hispanic audience, almost half of which watch only or mostly Spanish-language television, according to Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment.  In some markets like New York and Los Angeles, shows on Spanish-language on Univision have even begun to outperform their English-language competition.  In response, ABC is adding to its line-up of Hispanic stars like George Lopez.  September will feature the premiere of Freddie, a new comedy starring Freddie Prinze, Jr., which will be partly performed in Spanish.

 

 

LATIN AMERICAN TRAVEL AND TOURISM STATS AND NEWS BRIEFS

 

16th Annual La Cumbre/The Americas Summit in Houston

 

This past September, nearly 1,000 travel and tourism professionals from across the Americas convened in Houston, Texas, for the 16th annual La Cumbre/The Americas Summit.  In order to support Houston’s massive hurricane relief efforts, the conference changed venue from the George Brown convention center, which helped shelter storm evacuees, to nearby Minute Maid Park.  Said Rick Still, La Cumbre’s Managing Director and Senior Vice president/Americas for Reed Exhibitions, “obviously, the logistical challenges were daunting, but the support, optimism, and compassion of our delegates overwhelmed us. Many chose to serve as volunteers during their spare time and evenings, helping evacuees at the neighboring convention center.  The spirit of cooperation and partnership between Houston, La Cumbre, and our delegates made this possible.” 

 

Aeromexico Offering Free Flight Home for Katrina Survivors

 

Mexican airline Aeromexico announced at the beginning of September that it will fly Mexicans home for free from hurricane-damaged areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Jose Kuri, senior vice president of Aeromexico's U.S. division, said 1,000 seats will be made available on Mexico-bound flights from Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Dallas. Mexican consulates throughout the United States are working to identity those who qualify and helping them obtain the tickets. Mexicans who lost their homes and jobs or were otherwise affected by the devastating hurricane can qualify for the free one-way ticket home until Oct. 15.  Consular authorities from Latin American countries estimate that around 300,000 people from Mexico, Central America and several South American nations live in areas affected by the hurricane and the consequent flooding.  There is special concern for those residing in the U.S. illegally, who will have no access to federal assistance and perhaps fear deportation.

 

Destinations2005 Descends on Rio de Janeiro

 

Destination2005, the second Annual Summit of the World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable Development will be held October 24-26, 2005, in Rio de Janeiro.  The Forum’s philosophy centers on the development of tourism while promoting cultural diversity, economic and social development, biodiversity preservation, and conditions for peace to prevail.  In that spirit, the conference seeks to unite business leaders, government authorities, academics, and researchers to help identify innovative strategies that make peace through tourism possible and present concrete cases of such attempts, One ongoing project to be highlighted is the Brazil Tourism and Culture Movement, which promotes tourism based on local culture and will have targeted 24 destinations throughout Brazil by the end of 2006.  The first Destinations2005 attracted 3,000 participants from 62 countries.  This year’s event will feature seminars, debates, cultural events, workshops, and sports clinics staged throughout the city’s downtown. 

 

Mexico in Top Ten For 2004 Tourism Arrivals

 

Mexico ranked eighth among the most visited countries in the world last year, according to figures released by the World Tourism Organization.  20.6 million people traveled to Mexico in 2004, though not as many as visited France, which ranked highest with 75.1 million tourists.  Spain and the United States followed with 53.6 million and 46.1 million, respectively.  Combined, the top ten countries received 363 million visitors, almost half of all 760 million world-wide tourism arrivals last year. 

 

Spain to Boost Central American Tourism Online

 

(El Pais) - In response to growing online tourism, Spain’s Ministry of Tourism has invested Euro 15 million in a two-year program to modernize the country’s tourism by using new technology and offering firms in the sector state financing to implement this technology.  Starting September 19, travel and tourism companies will be able to access a new reservation system through the country’s official tourism website, www.spain.info.  But Central America also stands to benefit from Spain’s technological innovations.  A recent conference of tourism ministers from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America resulted in an agreement to invest Euro 3 million to improve tourism in the region via www.visitcentroamerica.com.

 

GOL and Copa Airlines Announce Code Share

 

Brazil's low-fare, low-cost airline, GOL, recently announced a code-share agreement with Copa Airlines.  Operations began on August 24.  The partnership aims at offering more flights and connection options between Brazil and Panama, including several points across the Americas, through the "Hub of the Americas," Panama’s Tocumen International Airport.  The hub is a direct flight distribution center that serves 30 destinations in 20 countries. The first phase of the agreement will connect GOL flights from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo with Copa Airlines flights, from Sao Paulo (Brazil) to "Hub of the Americas" (Panama). Additional phases will increase the number of cities in Brazil served by the code-share.  Incidentally, Copa Airlines boasts one of the world’s highest punctuality rates, currently registered at 94.36%.

 

Punta Arenas Expects 20% More Visitors and Queen Mary II

 

Punta Arenas expects at least 123 cruise calls this coming 2005/06 season, including 75 foreign vessels according to the latest estimate released by the regional ports authority Empresa Portuaria Austral, EPA, which manages Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales.  The increased number of calls will represent 64,119 passengers, a considerable increase over the 103 calls and 51,000 passengers of the 2004/05 season.  The official inauguration of the cruise season in Punta Arenas is scheduled for September 17 with the “Mare Australis”, said EPA general manager Eduardo Manzanares. “This is a very demanding season”, admitted Mr. Manzanares, since among the calls for this upcoming spring is the “Queen Mary II”, the largest and most luxurious ship in the world.  “With this in mind we’re building a landing and boarding system which will enable us to manage more visitors, with greater safety and speed”, said Mr. Manzanares. Most bookings stem from European tourists, followed by Americans, Mexicans, Brazilians and Argentines.

 

LAN Explores Korean Market


This September, LAN airlines and Korean Air began the joint operation of the Seoul-Los Angeles-Santiago route based on code sharing.  The new route is part of a commercial agreement between the two airlines to develop the Korean-Latin American market.  Meanwhile, LAN also widened its domestic operations in Argentina with the launch of daily operations between Buenos Aires and Puerto Iguazu, effective September 3, 2005.  In addition, LAN Argentina initiated a weekly flight between Buenos Aires and Comodoro Rivadavia/Rio Gallegos mid-month. 

 

Machu Picchu Available for Weddings

 

Machu Picchu Mayor Oscar Valencia has announced the resumption of weddings in the Incan citadel.  Ceremonies will be held in a special location, out of the way of hundreds of daily tourists, and would involve traditional dress and rites, as well as entrance fee to the park.  The ceremony is available to foreign visitors and costs approximately US$300.  

 

ALADI: Fostering Steady Intraregional Integration

 

Intraregional trade and commerce among the 12 member states of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) maintained a constant growth rate of 28.5% in the first semester of 2005, according to the latest ALADI report.  Although the growth rate is not as strong as in 2004, when the first semester registered a record 37% over the same period the previous year, experts predict that total intraregional trade could reach an unprecedented US$73 billion by the end of 2005.  At the moment, Argentina accounts for 39% of all imports within the region, more than any other nation, and is the second largest exporter.  Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia, represent the region’s other significant markets, while Peru is currently showing an impressive individual growth rate of 57%.  This is a big shift from ten years ago, when Brazil and Argentina loomed as the dominant markets in Latin America.  ALADI member states include  Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

 

Dominican Republic Signs CAFTA-DR

 

On September 6th, 2005, the Dominican Republic became the fifth country to approve the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).  Costa Rica and Nicaragua must still sign on for the deal to come into effect, but the agreement faces serious opposition in both countries.  The Petrocaribe deal signed last month between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela is evidence of the Caribbean nation’s caution in giving itself over entirely to CAFTA-DR, particularly when US-subsidized sugar cane threatens to destroy its largest cash crop.

 

Panama Ports Invest US$1 Billion in Upgrade

 

The Panama Ports Company, part of the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whamoa, Ltd., is planning to quadruple capacity at two of Panama’s key ports, Balboa port and Cristobal port, over the next ten years, with an investment of US$1 billion.   The company is certain these ports can become regional distribution centers for cargo, as world trade grows and traffic through the Panama Canal increases.  Panama Ports also agreed to pay the government US$102 million, following months of dispute sparked by former President Mireya Moscoso’s controversial annulment of two contract clauses that had the company paying percentages of its gross annual income.

 

Venezuela and Uruguay Sign 25-Year Oil Deal

 

(MercoPress) - Venezuela will guarantee Uruguay’s oil supply for the next 25 years as part of an energy deal that also includes providing fuel to other countries in the region.  A Venezuelan vessel carrying one million barrels of crude is already en route to Montevideo and Chavez promised that Venezuela will immediately invest the 40 million US dollars of the bunker in projects in Uruguay. These include 18 million US dollars in the upgrading of a government owned cement plant which will then provide Venezuela with cement under favorable conditions for President Chavez administration housing programs. The remaining twelve million are to be invested in refurbishing a sugar cane alcohol plant which will export to Venezuela the so called “green fuel”.

 

Trans-Andean Rail System Requires US$260 Million

 

(America Economia) – Chile and Argentina are set to open bids for the trans-Andean rail project, Ferrocarril Transandino Central, at the end of this year.  The project is estimated to require a US$260 million investment, and would re-link the Chilean city of Los Andes with Argentina’s Mendoza after a territorial dispute disrupted the rail network 30 years ago.  Not only would the rail project double the amount of cargo to pass through the Andes, but it would significantly lower the cost of transportation, which is frequently interrupted by heavy snow in the mountains.  The new rail connection would also link up with north-running lines, thus expanding the market with Brazil, and generally benefit the entire southern region.

 

From the Caribbean to the Amazon: Spanish Becomes Compulsory

 

This past month, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva passed a law making Spanish a mandatory language option in all public and private high schools as of 2010.  The Spanish language bill languished in Congress for 12 years, because it initially made Spanish compulsory.  However, opposition to the bill has been countered by the growing influence of MERCOSUR.  With strengthening ties between all Latin American countries, speaking Spanish is fast becoming an economic and cultural inevitability.  The new, more democratic law, making Spanish optional rather than compulsory, could potentially turn over 9.1 million Brazilian high school students into proficient Spanish speakers.  It will also require a minimum of at least 1,400 Spanish instructors.  But Brazil is not the only non-Spanish speaking nation to have a change of heart in the language debate.  After 200 years of English-language dominance in a country just seven miles off the coast of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago is finally embracing its geography.  A former British colony, the island nation plans to become Spanish-speaking by 2020.  With that lofty goal in mind, Spanish instruction will be compulsory from first grade through high school starting this academic term, and civic servants are expected to attain basic proficiency as well.  Currently only 1500 of Trinindad and Tobago’s 1.3 million citizens speak Spanish.  The country is home to islanders of Indian and African origin, as well as a large East Indian community, which makes up 40% of the population.  And considering that most tourists to the islands are not Spanish speaking, many citizens wonder what is in it for them.

 

Peru and Chile Squabble over Pisco and Pudding

 

(MERCOPRESS) - The Peruvian embassy in Santiago is beginning legal actions to impede the registry of the trade mark “Suspiro Limeño”, (Lima sigh), a traditional dessert in the country’s capital Lima.  The decision follows Chilean company Soprole request before the Chilean Industrial Property Office to register the trademark “Lima sigh”.  Peru and Chile are already involved in the “pisco” trademark controversy, a popular alcoholic drink in both countries but which Peruvians allege its origin dates back to colonial times. Last July 28, Lima’s main square fountain was filled with 2.000 litres of pisco to celebrate Peru’s Independence Day and a ruling by a United Nations office declaring the Andean liquor a product of Peru, giving the country crucial arguments in its long dispute with Chile over who owns rights to the strong drink name.

 

Brazil expects to launch first astronaut April 2006

 

(MERCOPRESS) - Brazil will be making a significant step towards joining the select group of countries that have orbited astronauts. The Brazilian candidate is Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Pontes who expects to travel to the International Space Station April 2006. The first Brazilian astronaut is just one of the angles of a very ambitious space program which hopefully will have Brazil next to United States, Russia, China and France.

 

Action Star Feels at Home in the DR

 

 The Dominican Republic continues to be a hot spot for Hollywood actors and location scouts.  Most recently in Santo Domingo, action film star Vin Diesel held a press conference about his plans to film in the country.  He also met with President Leonel Fernandez and Santo Domingo mayor Roberto Salcedo.  In an interview with El Caribe, he told the newspaper, “I cannot explain how good it feels to come to my country. The reason why I say this is my country is that it has something special that many forget. Here there are more persons with European and African ancestry than anywhere else in the world, which makes the Dominican Republic a mecca for all of us who are the result of a mix of races.” 

 

Record bank heist in Brazil: 65 million US dollars

 

(AP) - Thieves spent three months tunneling under a busy city boulevard in northeastern Brazil to break into a Central Bank vault and pull off the biggest robbery ever in South America's largest country. The crime that netted $67.8 million was remarkably similar to a tunnel heist last year in which more than $1 million was stolen from a Sao Paulo company that transports money for banks. The suspected mastermind of that caper reportedly had escaped from prison three years earlier by digging a tunnel.

 

Uruguay and US Agencies Aid Storm Victims

 

On August 23 and 24, a severe and unexpected wind and rain storm struck southern and eastern parts of Uruguay where 70 percent of Uruguay's population lives, destroying infrastructure in the capital, Montevideo, and in the departments of Canelones, San José, Colonia, and Maldonado, announced the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The U.S. Embassy in Montevideo reported that hurricane force winds reached 175 km per hour, demolishing homes, tearing power lines, felling trees, and blocking roads. In reply, USAID plans to provide an initial $50,000 in disaster relief to assist victims in Uruguay.  Meanwhile, Uruguay is showing its solidarity with the United States by sending water treatment plants and milk powder to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry said in a statement this month.

 

 

LOOK IT UP

 

ARGENTINA

 

http://www.turismo.gov.ar/

Tourism Ministry site - nice images of natural sites in Argentina - has an English version

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1192478.stm

BBC - Country profile - Argentina

 

http://www.economist.com/countries/Argentina/

The Economist - Country briefing & news - Argentina

 

http://www.uar.com.ar/default.asp

Did you know Argentina is a world-class rugby nation?  Look it up!

 

CURIOSIDADES

 

Tourism’s attitude to terrorism has changed from fear to defiance – UN report

 

Tourism has become more resilient to the threat of terrorism over the past few years as the market’s attitude has changed from fear to defiance, and last month’s bombings in Sharm el-Sheikh are expected to have only a short-lived effect on the Egyptian resort, according to a new United Nations report.

 

“In 2001, the September 11 attacks generated fear,” the Secretary-General of World Tourism Organization (WTO), Francesco Frangialli, said of the report by the agency’s report by the Market Intelligence Department, referring to the terrorist assaults on New York and Washington.

“But recent acts of terrorism have been met more by a sentiment of repugnance rather than fear. When faced with terrorism, the members of the society being attacked are determined not to allow violent acts to pressure them into changing their way of life. There has been a shift in the security paradigm with regard to everyday life and travel, as people have come to accept higher levels of uncertainty than in past years,” he added.

 

“As we have been seeing of late, attacks can happen anywhere, and are not limited to foreign travel destinations. The public must not let itself be deterred from travelling.”

When a series of explosions struck Sharm el-Sheikh on 23 July, causing considerable loss of life and wounded many others, the initial reaction of some tourists was to go home. But as was the case on previous occasions, a significant number decided not to leave and there continued to be new arrivals and bookings.

 

“In the past few years, civil society has become aware of the global nature of these threats and have resisted caving in to them; people are tending to keep any changes to their habits and behaviour to a minimum,” Mr. Frangialli said. “This has been shown following the recent aggressions suffered in different parts of the world.”

 

Egypt, like most other emerging destinations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, has experienced robust growth over the past several years. In 1995, it received more than 2.9 million tourist arrivals, a number that soared to nearly 8 million last year, a growth rate of 11 per cent a year. The first four months of 2005 showed even faster growth: 15.6 per cent compared to the same period the previous year. Between 1995 and 2004, Egypt’s earning from international tourism grew from $2.7 billion to $6.1 billion.

 

The Madrid-based WTO plays a major role in stimulating public-private sector partnerships and encouraging the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism to ensure that member countries, tourist destinations and businesses maximize the positive economic, social and cultural effects of tourism and fully reap its benefits, while minimizing its negative social and environmental impacts.