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The second week of September brings new opportunities and political developments all across LATAM. We go into some of those major shifts now.
The country of Cuba has faced a decline in tourism and growing economic pressure in recent years.
An effort to correct that occurred late last week with the opening of parts of the tourism industry to private businesses such as travel agencies and independent tour guides. These operations can now operate legally as of September 3rd, shifting some of the tourism economy away from state control and more toward entrepreneurs.
Moving over to Mexico, TAG Airlines has announced the return of Mérida-Flores service starting November 3rd.
With Flores being a key gateway to northern Guatemala, this hints that Mérida could be moving away from being just a travel destination and toward being a useful base for exploring the wider Yucatán-Guatemala region.
Moving into the Caribbean, Jamaica is experiencing a recovery following Hurricane Melissa. Around 70% of the country’s hotel-room inventory is back in service.
Additionally, Jamaica has welcomed around 2.34 million visitors this year, generating approximately $2.5 billion in tourism revenue.
Further south, Costa Rica is experiencing increased demand from international visitors, particularly in Guanacaste.
The province accounted for 67.2% of the country’s net growth in international air arrivals between January and July, pointing to a gradual move away from dependence on San José as the main gateway.
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Moving into South America, Colombia is currently rolling out 20 new international air routes between June and December.
This provides more direct international access to areas beyond the country’s primary gateways.
With that increased accessibility also comes tighter screening of foreign arrivals, particularly in Medellín.
This is part of an active campaign against exploitative tourism and a response to the city’s international-tourism boom.
A major diplomatic swing through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru began on September 8th with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
These meetings could have practical consequences for travelers and businesses within the region. More to come from this.
Moving further south toward Argentina, Buenos Aires has experienced a 19% tourism jump this year, with more than 1.6 million international tourists arriving from January through July.
Brazil remains Buenos Aires’s largest international market, contributing approximately 22% of foreign visitors. This demonstrates how LATAM tourism is increasingly being supported by other Latin American countries and newer long-haul markets.
Finally, Brazil continues to see strong tourism growth while southern Brazil faces an extratropical cyclone that could affect road travel, flights, beaches, and outdoor events.
Outside of weather, LATAM and TAAG Angola Airlines have also agreed to provide access to 57 Brazilian destinations through São Paulo.
Northeast Brazil is also seeing strong tourism growth, with destinations such as Maceió gaining greater international connectivity and offering alternatives to Rio and São Paulo.
That closes out this week’s Nomad Signal. Thanks for reading through to the end. I’m looking forward to following these developments and bringing you more updates in the next Signal.
Until next time,
Structured Nomad
