The round table event at Lata Expo on Wednesday (15 June) was attended by tourism representatives from Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, as well as tour operators to Latin America including Latin Routes, Journey Latin America and Pura Aventura who discussed strategies for growing awareness around the continent as a travel destination.
Latin Routes director Martin Johnson said education and awareness of the destination among travel agents, who account for 50% of its business, is the biggest challenge. “Agents are onboard with the programme – there’s a lot of desire for more training there – but tourist board budgets tend to be small,” he said, adding that tourist boards should direct their budgets towards agent education to improve awareness.
“We need to dispel the trade of the notion that Latin America is more an adventure, rough-around-the-edges destination, and bring in awareness of high-end luxury experiences and ease of travel,” said Johnson.
In particular, raising awareness among consumers and the trade of the region’s suitability for multi-centre trips is seen as particularly important, as data from travel analytics firm Forward Keys shows the continent is lagging behind Europe and Asia for twin-centre holidays, with more than 90% of British travellers only visiting one destination per trip.
Journey Latin America’s Sarah Bradley commented, however, that many of its bookings are for multi-centre trips with clients wishing to visit neighbouring countries, such as Ecuador and Peru, for example, indicating there is an appetite for multi-destination trips in the region.
Similarly, Latin Routes said its customers tend to book two- to three-week trips and are happy to discover neighbouring countries on the same trip.
Tourism representatives including Ecuador tourism minister Niels Olsen, ProColombia executive director Jose Puyana and Belize minister of tourism Anthony Mahler agreed the region needs to work together to market Latin America as a whole, rather than as individual destinations. “There’s a massive opportunity for collaboration,” said Steppes Travel’s sales director Jarrod Kyte.
The intention is to use refreshed marketing budgets post-pandemic to boost trade educationals and launch advertising campaigns in collaboration with trade partners.
