Latin America Tourism to Exceed Global Growth Rates

The inaugural WTM Latin America Trends Report 2015 was released this week at WTM Latin American in Sao Paulo.

The report highlights the emerging travel trends in Brazil, South America and the Caribbean, similar to the WTM Global Trends Report which is presented annually at WTM in London. The review period ran from 2008-2013 and the forecast period is for 2013-2018.

Speaking at a press conference at WTM, Alexis Frisk, research analyst for Euromonitor International, said; “After underperforming the global average over the review period, Latin America inbound arrivals will post a 4.4 percent CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) between 2013-2018, actually above the global CAGR of 4 percent.

“In 2013, Latin America registered a total of 84 million arrivals, representing 3 percent growth over 2012.”

Frisk noted that Mexico accounted for 30 percent of total arrivals in the region – this is largely due to country’s proximity to the biggest source market for Latin America, the US, which has been negatively affected during the global recession.

Between 2013 and 2018, Mexico’s arrivals will see a 5 percent CAGR increase to 31m, which will be driven by US economic recovery. A significant increase in the region’s wealth is also affecting travel trends – and the industry’s source markets.

“Between 2008 and 2013, 44m people joined the Lat Am region’s population group with income of BRL31,000-125,000 (US$10,001-40,000). This is more than the population of Argentina in 2014 (41 million),” concluded Frisk.