4-7 market focus 24/11/08 16:31 Page 5
Peru is the top destination for many operators,
though it received only 66,488 UK arrivals last Peru: traditional Sibella Arguello, marketing
year, an 11% increase on 2006. Numbers have loom weaving in director, Central America
been rising steadily, from 41,000 in 2002. Promo- Llanchon, Puno Tourism Agency
tional activity has been stepped up since Hills The UK has become the second
Balfour Synergy was appointed as representative. most important European
A recent survey by the Latin American Travel market for us – the central
Association found that Peru was top for operators, America region received nearly
followed by Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Central 83,000 British visitors in 2007. Over the past
America saw a strong increase. Lata member three years we have seen a steady increase in the
Stuart Whittington, of addictedtotravel.com says: number of UK tour operators that sell our region
“Over 80% of members had better than expected – Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
results over the last 12 months, but expect the Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – as well as
next year to be challenging. Latin America is an expansion of their programmes to Central
doing well compared with some areas, although it America, with many offering multi-destination
doesn’t have such a high profile.” itineraries.
Lata is a non-profit organisation, and says it does While Costa Rica remains the most popular
not currently have the budget for major training destination, countries such as El Salvador and
initiatives, but points agents in the direction of the Nicaragua, which featured little before, are
Brazil and Mexico tourist boards and some opera- starting to appear in more programmes.
tors involved in roadshows. Sunvil has four agent This bigger presence has already resulted in an
workshops a year. The most recent, in October, increase in the number of British visitors this year
focused on Ecuador and the Galapagos. – a trend which we expect will continue in 2009.
5
TTG Knowledge LATIN AMERICA November 2008
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36