From: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline) 
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDUP1
Date: 31 Dec 92 01:03:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online / St. Louis Online - St. Louis, MO
Reply-To: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline) 

                     Caribbean Travel Roundup 
                       Paul Graveline, Editor 
                          January 1, 1993 
                              Number 31 
                   Travel OnLine - INTERNET Edition 

SPECIAL NOTE TO INTERNET READERS:  
-------------------------------- 
I  have received a couple of requests to use material from the CTR in  
other  publications.  Because much of the material is provided freely  
and  some  of  it  is  even copyrighted by contributors but used here  
with  permission  of  the  authors,  I have established the following  
guidelines  for  using  CTR  material  in  other journals: Any of the  
information  in  the  month's  Caribbean  News  section  may  be used  
without  permission provided that full credit is given to the CTR and  
me  as the source. Most of the items in the News section are compiled  
by  me  so  there  is  no problem. Both commercial and non-commercial  
users  are  welcome  to  "lift"  the  News  items as long as suitable  
credit  is  noted. However, none of the material in Journey and Notes  
section  may  be  used  without  permission.  This  is to prevent CTR  
correspondents  who  have provided free material under the assumption  
that  it  will be used non-commercially from being taken advantage of  
and being deceived.  

On   another  topic,  in  November  I  received  three  messages  via  
INTERNET.  Unfortunately,  my  replies  were  returned  due  to  some  
technical  problems  and  only  recently  have  I  figured out how to  
gateway  responses  to  INTERNET.  Since  I  inadvertently  lost  the  
messages  and  return  addresses,  anyone who tried to contact me but  
didn't   get   a   reply  should  resubmit  the  message  either  via  
paul.graveline@travel.com   or   74007.3434@compuserve.com  with  the  
Compuserve  address  probably  being  the  more reliable as I tend to  
check that one more regularly than the OnLine address.  

CONTENTS FOR JANUARY 1993 
------------------------- 
1. CTR Begins Third Year 
2. Caribbean News for January 1993 
3. Island Profile: Saba by Lan Sluder 
4. Journeys and Notes. 
Barbados Ecology and Underwater Treasures from Tourist Board 
British Virgin Island Report from Carmen Fondell 
British Virgin Islands, Virgin Gorda, by David Nussbaum 
Cozumel, Club Cozumel Caribe by Patricia Wolf 
Guadeloupe, Club Med Caravelle by Gary Moore 
Jamaica Couples Trip Report from Dan Kirkhoff  
Jamaica, Negril by Mike Mellum 
St. Martin Report by Dan Rahman CS 

1/ CTR's Third Anniversary 
-------------------------- 

"For  some  time  I've  been  monitoring  travel  developments in the  
Caribbean  region  through  a variety of mediums...I thought it might  
be  useful  to  share  it  with  others. The prime questions posed by  
users  of  the BBSs seem to be for information about a certain hotel,  
current  local conditions on the a particular island or other general  
information.  I  hope  that  this  vehicle will evolve into just that  
type   of   service.  ...I  am  rapidly  establishing  a  network  of  
individuals who can provide timely information" 

So  began the first CTR published in January 1990 -- three years ago.  
And  that  quote  from  the  first  CTR pretty much sums up the prime  
objectives   in   my  establishing  this  electronically  distributed  
newsletter.  Given  those fundamental objectives as goals, I probably  
can  claim  some  success  as  the  CTR  enters  its  fourth  year of  
publication.  Originally  planned  as  a  ten  times  a  year  6 page  
venture,  the CTR has evolved into a major undertaking of about 18-25  
pages each issue.  

The  period  from  the  start  of  the  U.S. military build up in the  
Persian  Gulf  to late last summer was a slow period in expanding the  
distribution  network  of  the  CTR.  However,  with the inclusion of  
INTERNET  last  fall  and  some  recent developments, the outlook for  
increased  readership  is particularly optimistic. While hard numbers  
are  difficult  to  assess  (  I  don't  even  have any idea how many  
electronic  bulletin  boards  carry  the  CTR  as  it  is  on so many  
networks),  it  does  not  seem  inconceivable  that over 3.5 million  
computer users have potential access to the CTR.  

The  original  idea  of  creating a network of corespondents has also  
evolved  to  a  point  where many excellent writers now have given me  
their  unqualified permission to include their comments in the CTR on  
a regular basis.  

What  does  the  future  hold?  Well, the first thing is that the CTR  
will  continue to be a non-commercial newsletter. I'm not sure if the  
quality  and  candor  of  the comments could be maintained if the CTR  
were   produced  on  a  commercial  basis.  Secondly,  technology  is  
changing  rapidly and I'm beginning to investigate means of including  
pictures  along  with  the  text. Thirdly, continued expansion of the  
distribution network remains a main objective. 

Finally,  I  want  to  extend my thanks to all of you who contributed  
(continued)