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As reported earlier this month in our weekly ENews update, Latin America (source: wwwlatinbusinesschronicle.com and the WTO), received a record of 68.6 million international arrivals in 2007, an increase of 2.9%, with tourism receipts growing 9.7% to $58.9 billion. It had the highest growth in all world regions except Asia. The growth was also higher than the world average of 5.6%. Assuming that the international arrivals were mostly, if not all by air, and since tourists come and return home, this means that more than 100 million air passengers were tourists to and from Latin America and within the region during 2007!

According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO) tourism is the world’s largest industry with annual revenues of close to $500 billion, and it is growing fast with airline international tourist arrivals – estimated at 900 million in 2007, up 6% from 2006 – expected to double by 2010. According to research by the industry’s WTTO, the World Travel and Tourism Council, (source: www.peopleandplanet.net) released this year, world travel and tourism is expected to generate close to $8 trillion in 2008, rising approximately to $15 trillion over the next ten years. And it states that Caribbean countries derive close to half their GDP from tourism (World Resources Institute), although we don’t have the specific numbers, except for the Dominican Republic and some countries in Central America- which do not come close to 50%.

Individual countries in Latin America
If you look at individual countries, they all reported significant growth in tourism receipts and international arrivals during the year, and the first half of 2008. In 2007 Uruguay led the region in tourism receipts with growth of 35.3% to $809 million. In the first half of 2008 Uruguay reported $550 million in receipts, up 20% over 2007, and is forecasting it will exceed $1 billion this year. Other winners in tourism receipts include Argentina, with $4.3 billion for a 29% increase; Panama up 23.4%, Peru up 22.9% and Guatemala up 18.4%. When it comes to arrival growth in 2007, Panama was at  the top of the list with 1.1 million visitors for a 30.8% growth; Costa Rica with 2 million, up 14.4%; Ecuador up 13.4%, Colombia up 13.2% and Honduras up 12.6%. And So far this year, Central America has reported a 12.7% growth in arrivals in the first half of the year; Argentina  reports that arrivals reached 177,666 in May of this year for an increase of 10.1%. Chile reports that receipts grew 22% in the first six months of the year with $1 billion, while arrivals grew 9.1% to 1.4 million visitors in the same period. And while we have no figures of receipts as a percentage of GDP in 2008, according to the Latin Business Chronicle, in 2007 tourism represented significant numbers as a percent age of GDP in the region, with the Dominican Republic being the leader with 11.1%. Other countries, according to the same report were Costa Rica with 7.5%; Panama with 6.0%; Honduras with 4.6%; Nicaragua with 4.55 and El Salvador with 4.2% as a percentage of the GDP.

The growth of air traffic to and from and within the region
When it comes to air traffic growth in demand, it is in double digits in most countries in the region; examples are: Chile with 4.8 million total passengers in the first six months of the year, for a 13.2% increase over last year. LAN reported 2007 RPKs were up 23.1% in the year 2007. IATA reported that Latin American RPKs were up 8.2% for its carriers in 2007. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) reported its South Atlantic routes were up 11.8% in 2007, the highest growth in the system. The following chart is for the most recent month in 2008 reported by ALTA (the 42 airline member Latin American Air Transport Association), US airlines in their Latin American operations, as well the Latin American “model” carriers which report monthly:

Airline/or Association  June 2007 RPMs % growth y/y

ALTA Latin American Regional  2,913,000* 15.1%

ALTA System 13,642,000* 13.4%

American Airlines    1,899,574  8.8%

Continental Airlines  968,837 11.0%

Delta Air Lines  832,978 11.4%

Copa Holdings  462,400* 20.8%

Gol Lineas Aereas Holding  1,887,500* 18.4%

LAN System (year to date)  12,836,000* 12.9%

LAN Domestic (year to date)  1,731,000* 20.8% 

TAM Domestic    1,790,000*  9.3%

TAM International    903.000*  32.9%

* RPKs

Brazil’s ANAC, Civil Aviation Authority reported that Brazilian airlines carried 51,028,000 passengers in 2007, a 7% growth over the previous year. 46 million were carried within the country with five million internationally. That’s a lot of traffic!
The demand growth within the region and domestically is also growing significantly which means more people are using air transportation, which is a good sign that the airlines in the region are stimulating the markets. And all the carriers – both from outside and within the region) are adding more flights and increasing capacity. The three US Majors in the region, American, Continental and Delta are all adding capacity and new flights in the region in spite of their cutting back in the US. Which is also good news.

Marketing, marketing, marketing
And the Latin American and Caribbean nations are all devoting significant attention to tourism in the region. The following are a few examples from our “tourism guru” Jim Woodman’s Tourist Corner in Avnews: Ecuador is waiving visas for 130 countries which is designed to increase tourism; Panama and Costa Rica have joined forces to set up a marketing effort in Europe to sell the two destinations; Hilton hotels across the region are offering new “spoil yourself” packages to five destinations; “Big Five Tours & Expeditions” has announced a new program called “Undiscovered Costa Rica” ; Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua are opening a Miami office for the promotion of tourism in North America. And there are a lot of new Boutique Hotels opening in the region as well as “Estancia Tours” in Uruguay and Argentina. And a lot more!

Tourism is “The Driver”
All of which is the basis for my statement that tourism is the driver of economic growth, air travel demand and generally improving the lives of millions in the region. Tourism as an export is by far the best medium for generating revenues for the countries involved. Unlike most exports, which generate revenue for the country and/or individual exporters, tourism receipts have a “horizontal impact”, that is all the money spent in the country is spread across the board to individuals and firms, ie hotels, restaurants and so on, which have a great impact on jobs, employment and individual income, from waiters, to taxi drivers, and others which are too many to mention. Basically, tourism is by far the best export for countries with the right kind of attractions, air service, marketing and a government that understands the value of foreign tourist expenditures.

Stay tuned.