By the Caribbean Journal staff

Another new all-inclusive project has broken ground in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Prime Minister Danilo Medina laid the first stone for the new Grand Fiesta Americana Punta Cana Los Corales this week.

The $130 million project will open its doors in 18 months, according to estimates.

The new project will be the first Dominican Republic outpost for the brand, which has properties across much of Mexico.

The Grand Fiesta Americana will include 554 “luxury” room on a site on Bavaro Beach in the heart of Punta Cana, about 20 minutes from Punta Cana International Airport.

It will include seven restaurants and a variety of watersports operations.

The post Grand Fiesta Americana Breaks Ground on New Resort appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

It began in 2012 with an idea: to lift up rum. The aim was to celebrate the glory of rum, to honor the greatest rums just as wines and spirits and so many other categories are honored.

Rum Journal’s Rum Awards is now in its sixth year, having growth into one of the world’s most important and influential measures in the rum category.

And every year, the judging by the Rum Journal special panel of judges gets more difficult, as rum continues to grow both in diversity and quality.

The most striking advancement of late has been the rum world’s renewed focus on the art of barrel aging, from special finishes to long-term aging.

This year’s final judging, performed at the terrific Casa de Montecristo by Prime Cigar in Miami, was the product of a year’s worth of tasting and research that ultimately evaluated more than 200 rums from the Caribbean and around the world.

As always, the Rum Awards is led by the awards for Rum of the Year and Rhum Agricole of the Year, along with 10 other categories across the world of rum.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Rum of the Year: Angostura No. 1, Trinidad

The premium aged rum category gets almost exponentially more competitive each year, but this year an old favorite returned to take back the Rum Awards crown. Trinidad’s Angostura No. 1 series, which won Rum of the Year with its first edition back in 2014, simply wowed this year’s panel of judges.

The latest expression of Angostura No. 1 is the result of aging Trinidadian rum for 10 years in American oak casks and then another six in French oak casks that formerly held cognac. The result is a masterwork, a rum that reaches the highest achievement in the rum world – an exquisite roundness and smoothness without sacrificing personality. Congratulations to the House of Angostura.  It’s also a sign of the increasing importance of the art of barrel aging — and barrel diversity — a theme that we’ll see across this year’s awards.

Runners Up: Papa’s Pilar Sherry Finish (Gold Medal) (Florida), Facundo Exquisito, Puerto Rico (Silver Medal), St Lucia Distillers 1931 (Bronze Medal).

The post Rum Journal: The Rum Awards 2017 appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

By the Caribbean Journal staff

All-inclusive giant Riu Resorts has officially expanded in the Mexican Caribbean with the debut of the new Riu Dunamar.

The new family-friendly all-inclusive is set in the relatively new Costa Mujeres development, about 30 km north of Cancun’s traditional tourism hub.

A typical room at Riu Dunamar.

Costa Mujeres will also soon be home to a major new project by Palladium Hotel Group slated to make its debut later on in 2018.

The 700-room hotel has a total of five outdoor pools, along with Riu’s new Splash Water World water park concept, which is becoming a signature at the company’s newer properties.

Culinary offerings range from a steakhouse called Las Brasas to a buffet eatery called Isla Mujeres and international restaurants like “Kulinariaum,” “Bamboo” and “Pompeya.”

The Riu Dunamar also includes a “RiuLand” kids’ club and a fitness program called RiuFit, along with the brand’s signature Renova Spa.

“We’re launching a destination with a brand new hotel that is ready to offer its best and newest amenities in modern facilities designed down to the last detail,” the company said in a release.

Riu has been on an expansion push in the Caribbean of late, both with new-build properties and renovation and expansion projects.

The post Riu Dunamar Opens Doors in Mexican Caribbean appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

By the Caribbean Journal staff

European low-cost carrier Norwegian continues to show booming passenger growth, according to the carrier’s latest numbers.

Norwegian carried 2.5 million passengers in November, a jump of 11 percent compared to the same period in 2016.

The carrier reported a total of 2.52 million passengers last month, an increase of 255,075 passengers overall.

Total traffic growth and capacity growth rose by 28 percent.

Last month, Norwegian launched a wave of new flights to the French Caribbean, including new routes to Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“We are pleased that more passengers are choosing to fly with Norwegian ,” said Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos. “Global expansion is important to position ourselves in a market with such strong competition, but also for creating economic value in the markets we operate.”

The post Norwegian Passenger Growth Continues appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Bahamas has signed three new air services agreements, Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar announced this week.

D’Aguilar signed deals with Qatar, Australia and Finland during the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Air Services Negotiation event in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

An air services agreement allows commercial air services between a pair of countries.

This was the 10th session of ICAN.

The Bahamas has now signed 11 air services agreements, having previously signed deals with Curaçao, Singapore, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Turkey and New Zealand.

The Bahamas also had “fruitful negotiations” with South Africa, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Austria, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Switzerland, Chile and Jordan, where Memoranda of Understanding were signed.

It is expected that full Air Service Agreements will soon be signed with those countries, according to a government statement.

The post Bahamas Signs Air Services Agreements With Qatar, Australia appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico