The opening of Montserrat´s new airport in May will boost this Caribbean island´s efforts to come again under the tourist spotlight after 10 years in the dark due to the Soufriere Hills volcanic eruptions, which began in 1995. Villa vacations, ecotourism and packaged excursions and day trips from Antigua for the U.S. and U.K. markets will be the focus of Montserrat´s three-year National Tourism Strategy Plan, which began in 2004, Ernestine Cassell, director of tourism, has highlighted. Cassell said the British government assisted with the rebuilding of Montserrat and injected $7 million into the economy to help its tourism sector. Tourism officials want to increase tourist arrivals to pre-1995 levels of 25,000 overnight visitors or more per year plus approximately 9,000 day trippers annually. By: Caribeinside