Tourism in Latin America: can it overcome the challenges?

18-04-23

Latin America is a region that has suffered heavy losses in the travel and tourism sector over the past three years due to the arrival of Covid-19 and the respective governments' approach to border closures, travel regulations and lack of air connectivity. 

During 2020 and part of 2021, many countries in Latin America implemented travel restrictions, border closures, quarantines and social distancing measures to contain the spread of the virus. This resulted in a significant decrease in tourism in the region.

International tourism, which is an important source of income for many Latin American countries, has been particularly affected. The decline in international travel has resulted in a decrease in tourism revenues, which has had a negative impact on the region's economy and the tourism industry, including job losses in the sector.

Several tourism sectors in Latin America, such as cruise tourism, event and convention tourism, and cultural tourism, have been particularly affected due to travel restrictions and social distancing measures. Many popular tourist destinations in the region, such as Cancun in Mexico, Cartagena in Colombia, and Cusco in Peru, have experienced significant declines in international tourist arrivals.

Several tourism sectors in Latin America, such as cruise tourism, event and convention tourism, and cultural tourism, have been particularly affected due to travel restrictions and social distancing measures. Many popular tourist destinations in the region, such as Cancun in Mexico, Cartagena in Colombia, and Cusco in Peru, have experienced significant declines in international tourist arrivals.

Unlike many of their Central American and Caribbean neighbours, in many Latin American countries there was no open-door policy for international visitors and no easy-to-understand measures around destination reopening or vaccination requirements. 

As a result, even in 2022, when the world began to see waves of returning tourists, most of the region did not see much progress in terms of travel recovery. However, there is potential in terms of travellers' intention to fly across the Atlantic. Figures revealed in this trends report for Latin America show that there is promise of more international arrivals literally in the air. 

In the first half of the year, the region has only recorded a 5% decline from 2019 levels, giving a sense of cautious optimism to our travel and tourism partners. It's only late summer in the southern hemisphere, but things are already heating up for parts of Latin America. 

The latest air ticket data from ForwardKeys reveals that Latin America and the Caribbean are only 5% behind 2019 levels in terms of international arrivals in the first six months of 2023, helped by strong performance from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Latin America, meanwhile, recorded a 24% decline in international arrivals compared to the same period in 2019. 

To some, this figure may seem worrying, but once the bigger picture is examined, it puts things in a more encouraging perspective. Globally, international arrivals are, on average, 27% below 2019 levels still, so Latin America is performing in line with the global average, and not all Latin American destinations are far from reaching pre-pandemic international visitor levels.