Increasingly modern and wired up with the rest of the globe, with more links among its many travel destinations and with higher hotel standards, this part of the world is still a region for explorers, a land teeing with natural, cultural and historic attractions.

Marked by uneven development levels, yet with rock-solid joint dynamics set on sustainable tourism, Latin America and the Caribbean have been actively working on grabbing larger market shares in world tourism, an industry that’s marred today by slow and sometimes uncertain perspectives in terms of recovery in the face of the global crisis, increasing competition from emerging destinations in Asia, the Mediterranean and Africa, and the configuration of a new kind of traveler moved by both economic and technological circumstances. The region’s travel industry, that generates 12 million jobs, marched on steady on the road to recovery in 2010. And it did it not only with better figures than the ones it achieved the year before, but also embracing several countries from Central and South America that had been putting good numbers on the board since the first quarter of 2008. Taking the lessons learned from the crisis and a closer look at the development experience of other world regions, Latin America and the Caribbean have now embarked on the expansion and diversification of its products, the strengthening of both intraregional and long-haul tourism, sustainable tourism, a more efficient way of building an international image and, above all, stepped-up access and connectivity among its many destinations. Connectivity, Communication and Diversification United States, Canada and Europe have traditionally been major outbound markets for Latin American and Caribbean nations. But the ongoing crisis has been pounding them hard since mid 2008 and all throughout 2009, making a dent in their tourist outflows. Travelers then opted for staycations; Europeans resorted to closer-to-home destinations, like Tunisia, Morocco or Egypt, let alone to stay home. Intraregional and domestic tourism reached higher levels and more attention was paid to it. In Central America, for instance, travel across the subcontinent’s seven nations accounts today for over 41 percent of the total, while South American trippers rank third with double-digit growths, trailing behind North America (37 percent) and ahead of Europe (9 percent). Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico have become key outbound markets for travel destinations in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. That exchange of travel outflows is coming along –and is equally driven by- airlift expansion in the mainland. In addition to the opening of new routes and hubs in South America, Central America and the Caribbean, this process has prompted mergers likes the ones between LAN and TAM, or AVIANCA and TACA, together with acquisitions, codeshares and fleet enhancements. According to execs in Boeing and Airbus, Latin America will buy over 1,600 new jetliners through 2028. In the same breath, efforts in the private and public sectors are luring an increasing number of U.S., European and Asian airlines. Several governments cut visa extension deals with Russia and China –the latter provides 50 million tourists a year and has granted Approved Tourist Destination status and warranties for more travel packages to such countries as Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Colombia. A few months ago, Exceltur President Gabriel Escarrer referred to the diversification of destinations in terms of hotel investment as the key to facing the crisis. From this side of the Atlantic, Latin American and Caribbean countries decided to branch out its markets as a top priority in the face of the crisis. By doing so, they poured their efforts into new air connections and reached out to tour operators from around the world. They also set out to beef up intergovernmental ties and, last but not least, they provided more promotion and support to their tourism brands. Emphasis on international promotion is quite visible in terms of joint publicity among Central American nations under a slogan that reads “Central America, so small… yet so big,” new campaigns like “Genuine Cuba” or “Ecuador Loves Life,” or the intense activity deployed by such entities as Ciudad de Buenos Aires, PromPeru and Embratur, under a motto that goes “Brazil calls you. Celebrate your life here.” There’s also been an investment of more than 50 million euros in Europe and nonstop actions carried out by authorities in Cancun and Riviera Maya, Mexico’s Tourism Department and the Dominican government to attend a larger number of travel fairs and tradeshows around the globe.

High-End Industry Featuring immense natural reserves –the largest biological diversity, nearly half of the planet’s tropical forests and somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of all wildlife species- Latin America and the Caribbean are inching toward high-end tourism provided by visitors with higher purchasing power and rounding out environment-friendly projects that could clinch the sector’s sustainability, a more harmonic balance between development and conservation, and hands-on involvement from the communities. This conception that has steered off the short-termism hailing from other places and times, and has been embraced by governments and the private sector, also implies a recognition to the fact that 21st century’s luxury has jumped out of the narrow borderlines of pricey products to become far more experimental and emotional. The huge Amazonian universe, the coral reefs, the beaches and woods of the Caribbean; the monumental scenery of the Andes ad Patagonia, or the volcanoes and rainforests of Central America stand all for natural heritage of immense proportions coupled with unique cultural expressions, countless traditions and tremendous architectural and archeological wealth that go far beyond the fifty-something cities with sites on the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage and located in Guatemala, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Cuba, Brazil and Mexico. To be up to par with this luxury experience, the region is currently witnessing a hefty investment blitz in upscale hotels fitted out with meeting halls, top-notch spas and, in many cases, marinas and golf courses, not to mention top-of-the-line non-hotel infrastructure and far more possibilities for firsthand contacts with peoples, cultures and local realities. Daily specialized mass media information on the sector covers the inner developments within the industry and how it advances with each passing day. In Buenos Aires, the new Quinquela Martin cruise terminal opened not too long ago. The development of the Roatan seaport is going strong in Honduras, while the Georgian-style Falmouth Seaport in Jamaica opened a few weeks ago. Other works under construction or subjected to remodeling are underway in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Panama and Nicaragua. Brazil is shelling out big bucks in sixteen airports in view of the upcoming World Soccer Cup and Olympic Games as part of a plan that also includes 300 hotel projects and a bullet train to hook up Rio, Campinas and Sao Paolo that must be ready by 2016. Panama is amassing an ambitious investment plan with a couple of Hyatt hotels, five Hiltons and Latin America’s first Waldorf Astoria later this year, let alone the capital’s subway, the governmental city, the new convention center, the Financial Tower and other projects that amount to a staggering $13 billion. For its part, the Dominican Republic has announced the opening of The Cliffs Ocean Resort –a deluxe real estate project- and the Amber Dune Resort & Spa, a luxury condo-hotel, as the country opens new Corales golf course at the Punta Cana Resort & Club, penciled in as one of the finest on the face of the earth. Cuba is conducting a large-scale process to develop real-estate business in marinas and golf courses. Argentina continues to raise the standard bar at the exclusive Puerto Madero with a six-star hotel for 2013. In Cartagena de Indias, the opening of the Nao Fun & Shopping is slated for 2012. This is a compound dominated by a five-star 27-floor, 282-room hotel tower run by InterContinental that will feature a convention center, stores, a casino, offices, swimming pools and movie theaters. Also in 2012, the inauguration of the Ritz-Carlton Dorado Beach, the brand’s second six-star resort following the opening of a similar lodging in Thailand back in 2009, is scheduled. Hotel chains like RIU, Sol Meliá, Iberostar, Barceló, Hyatt, Starwood and Hilton only in 2011 will open seven hotels in Central America and South America. For its part, IHG is planning on doubling the number of hotels the company runs in the region –it currently owns more than seventy- and has major development plans in the offing in several countries. At the same time, the number of small boutique hotels is ramping up in cities that boast colonial towns, like Havana, Santo Domingo, Cartagena or Merida, in isolated coves on the small Caribbean islands, in the Valley of the Incas or in the surroundings of Costa Rica’s volcanoes. Inns and lodgings are expanding in jungles or in areas devoted to rural tourism in local communities from Bolivia to Nicaragua. These small hotels, usually nestled in protected areas, have caught on rapidly because “they are differentiated products and stand for a competitive factor in the tourism sector,” an UNWTO expert explains.

Diversity and Modernity Think of Latin America and the Caribbean and certain places come to mind: Machu Picchu, Kuelap and Nazca; Chichen Itza and Copal; Belize’s Blue Hole, Rio de Janeiro and its carnival; tango in Argentina and the delicious cuisine of Peru, or the high-sea fishing trips in the northern coasts of Cuba and the wonders of the Atitlan Lake, or the Salto Angel and Iguazu waterfalls; the Mayan ruins and the Mexican Caribbean, the lakes or glaciers of Patagonia; the chance to venture around a volcano crater, health tourism in Costa Rica and Buenos Aires’ cultural events, or just homemade products like tequila or habanos. Little by little, the region’s travel industry has come of age and become more responsible, never letting development get in the way of its freshness and sense. In order to reel in more markets and upgrade the tourist product, the region also promotes multidestination –usually through transnational thematic routes- because, as Dominican Tourism Minister was quoted as saying not too long ago, “if Cuba welcomes many visitors, they would then like to travel to the Dominican Republic. In the same way, tourists visiting the Dominican Republic would then love to travel to Puerto, Colombia or Venezuela.” With an economic moxie that draws more and more investors –growth is estimated at over 5 percent in 2010 and around 4 percent in 2011- Latin America and the Caribbean are making headway in cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, such as e-commerce –according to Visa, the region must leap from $21.8 billion in 2009 to $34.5 billion in late 2011. But its countries are also getting a bigger piece of the MICE business pie, with Argentina and Brazil leading the pack. These two nations and Mexico are moving firmly toward LGTB tourism with major gains in terms of inflows and image. Featuring more access to tourists from all around the world and better facilities, heightened synergies between the private and public sectors for the sake of the sector, and increased promotion in the outbound markets, perhaps the greatest challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean lie in making tourism grow without hurting their natural and cultural heritage –for many the main assets this region has to offer, together with the people- and embarking on such tasks as raising safety and security, providing better distribution of wealth and jobs, and further branching out destinations and products in a bid to chalk up larger numbers of tourists and repeat visitors.

Airlift Air connectivity soared dramatically throughout 2010, supported by the opening of hubs in the international airports of Lima, Mexico City, Panama City, Bogota and Sao Paulo. GOL, LAN, TAM, Avianca-TACA, Aeromexico and AeroRepublica were some of the Latin American airlines that opened new intraregional routes. As to airlines other than those from the turf, American Airlines, Continental and other U.S. carriers added more flights to Mexico; Delta (New York-St. George), JetBlue (Boston-Montego Bay and New York-Punta Cana, its fourth destination in the Dominican Republic), Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale-Barranquilla), WestJet (Toronto-Samana), Air Canada (Montreal-Guanacaste, Costa Rica), Air France (Paris-Santiago de Chile, and additional flights from Guadalupe and Miami to Santo Domingo that joined 9 existing weekly taking off from Paris), Air Europa (Madrid-Lima, that joined the routes to Buenos Aires, Havana and Santo Domingo), Qatar Airways (Doha-Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires), Lufthansa (Frankfurt-Bogota), Transaero (Moscow-Varadero, Cuba), Iberia (Madrid-Panama, Madrid-San Salvador and Madrid-Cordoba, Argentina), Thomson (London-San Jose) and British Airways (London-Buenos Aires). New services have been trumpeted for the ongoing year, including: Iberia (Madrid Recife, Madrid-Fortaleza, Brazil), British Airways (London-San Juan, with stopovers in Antigua, thus adding up to a whopping 64 weekly flights and 15 destinations for BA to and from the Caribbean), JetBlue (New York-Turks & Caicos) and Transaero (Moscow-Rio de Janeiro, thus joining the existing flights to Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic).

Some Hotel Opening Highlights Banyan Tree Cabo Marqués, Mexico; Hyatt Regency Curacao Golf Resort, Spa & Marina; Breezes Buzios Resort & Spa, Brazil; Barceló Habana Ciudad, NH Parque Central Torre, Meliá Buenavista All Inclusive Royal Service Spa Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba; Santa Elena Country and Marina Club, Paraguay; Secrets Wild Orchid Montego Bay and Secrets Wild Orchid, Jamaica; Urubamba Luxury Collection, Valle Sagrado de los Incas, Cusco, Peru; St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort & Residences, Puerto Rico; Secrets Sanctuary Cap Cana, Hamaca and Punta Cana Presidential Suites, Dominican Republic; Embassy Suites by Hilton Valencia-Downtown, Valencia, Venezuela; Doubletree by Hilton, RIU Panama Plaza, Panamá; 100 guestrooms, Royal Service, only for adults over 18 years old, the chain’s fourth property in Cuba’s northern offshore keys and its 25th on the island nation.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, hotel expansion –mostly in the form of upscale properties- is a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, deluxe city hotels or vacation resorts, real-estate compounds outfitted with state-of-the-art spas and usually linked to golf courses and marinas; on the other hand, small boutique hotels in cities and natural spaces in which luxury takes up a notch and where the “luxe-rustic” concept is quickly picking up steam.