Latin America is one of the regions with the greatest potential as a tourist destination, which is why Latin American administrations, companies and the tourism industry are investing huge efforts in fine-tuning the tourist offer, improving connectivity, tourist services and products, and enhancing the reputation of destinations.
Behind this great objective, the industry is relying on data intelligence as the fundamental pillar for the planning, design and execution of tourism policies, an issue that was discussed in depth during Tourism 360 – International Fair of Smart Tourist Destinations, held a few days ago in Montevideo.
The various applications of data intelligence for tourism and its potential in a region that, like Latin America, is in the expansion phase of its tourism industry, gave rise to reflections on what the priorities of the Latin American tourism industry should be, whether we are facing a cohesive region with a consistent offer, and to what extent each country should address different challenges, although aligned with a common vision. In addition, questions were raised about how to prioritize source markets, how to take advantage of current connectivity, and what aspects related to destination management require special attention based on these source markets.
With this premise, and putting the data at the service of this debate, Mabrian has developed an dynamic analysis that combines various indicators focused on Spain as inbound market which will allow to understand the impact of connectivity in the main Latin American capitals, and the perception of the destination regarding overall satisfaction and tourism products, hotel accommodation, security and climate. A starting point for designing tourism policies, promotion, product positioning or infrastructure improvement, among other applications.
The ranking has been drawn up by taking into account the factors of perception of the Spanish market with these destinations and the ease of air access from Spain. As a criterion, 60% of importance has been given to the perception factors and 40% to air connectivity.
- The data show that Bogotá, Lima and Buenos Aires are the best-connected capitals in Latin America with Spain, a market that is particularly demanding in terms of satisfaction with the tourist product. It is important to highlight that the air connectivity network offers many opportunities to connect destinations in the region, an aspect that Spanish travelers will perceive as an added value, having the opportunity to move more easily between different destinations in the same trip.
- Spain, one of the main tourist destinations in the world, has a very refined tourist culture, which implies that travelers have high standards and expectations, so they tend to be a particularly demanding market with the quality of tourist experiences and accommodations. In this sense, the markets that come out best are Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and Montevideo, which have a better Satisfaction Index with Tourist Products.
- The accommodation value proposition is the pending issue for all the destinations analysed, except in the case of Quito and Buenos Aires, which achieve good Hotel Satisfaction indixes by the Spanish traveler. This aspect is very relevant to attract longer stays and greater tourist spending.
- Likewise, security is a very relevant factor to be considered when choosing a destination by Spanish travelers, and one of the main challenges that Latin America has had and continues to have to address in the region. Lima, Buenos Aires and Quito stand out in this aspect.
- Climate perception is a great advantage for Latin American destinations when they must position their tourist experiences in the Spanish market. The large capitals of the region stand out in this sense, which represents an extraordinary opportunity to position these destinations throughout the year.
It is worth highlighting the efforts of Montevideo, a smaller capital than the rest of those analyzed, and with a more recent tourist industry, which has made great progress in terms of connectivity and tourist satisfaction, which allows it to compete with other large Latin American metropolises, advancing very quickly in its development, relying on technology, innovation and data intelligence to achieve this.
