latin america regions
Tourists are encouraged to opt for a slower pace in the Amazonas region in Peru
region through online portals and our own social media outlets.” Similarly, some tour operators, such as specialists Plan South America, are taking their visitors away from the developed tourism of San Pedro in the Atacama Desert and instead taking them to lesser-visited Copiapo.
Peru
The iconic status of Machu Picchu puts it on many travellers’ bucket lists, but there is much more to Peru. Elisabeth Hakim, market coordinator for North America and the UK, says: “Our task is to disperse tourism and the associated economic benefits more equally throughout Peru by inspiring travellers to visit lesser-known areas of the country. “We have been using this tactic to diversify demand for many years, starting with the promotion of the northern coast, then the Amazon Rainforest and we now continue by looking at the north-eastern regions of Ancash and Amazonas.”
Costa Rica’s Ballena National Marine Park is ideal for whale-watching
The ancient fortress of Kuelap and the Chachapoyas region have also been effectively promoted as an alternative to Peru’s traditional southern tourism circuit. Vessela Baleva, Cox & Kings’ Latin America specialist says: “We are taking advantage of recently launched flight routes such as Cuzco to Trujillo to combine the traditional Inca sites with the Pre-Columbian treasures of the lesser-known north.”
Costa Rica The Costa Rica Tourism Board is
currently developing new tourism products throughout the country to encourage visitors to discover its lesser- known national parks. Following this, a programme of collaborative publicity campaigns with tour operators alongside trade education campaigns and consumer promotions will be used to raise their profile. Enrique Martin, UK Costa Rica
representative, says: “Some of the less-visited areas include the Osa Peninsula, which packs 2.55% of the world’s biodiversity into just 0.001% of its surface area, plus Ballena National Marine Park, which is ideal for whale watching, and the lush and pristine Caribbean region of Limon.”
Mexico
As the leading tourist destination in the region, Mexico is constantly diversifying its offering. Currently, the tourist board is promoting Unesco-listed colonial cities such as Puebla and Guanajuato.
54 wtm insights autumn 2018
Puebla is listed as one of Mexico’s ‘magical towns’ for its beautiful architecture and rich history, while Guanajuato is considered to have some of the best examples of Baroque architecture in Latin America. The Great Pyramid of Cholula, just outside Puebla, is also being promoted. The largest pyramid yet discovered in the world, it is four times the size of Egypt’s Great Pyramid in Giza. The tourist board is also taking advantage of new flight routes – such as the Finnair Helsinki to Puerto Vallarta link and Tui’s London to Puerto Vallarta flight – to encourage people to explore the Pacific coast.
Colombia
Colombia has a rich tourism offering, from highlands dotted with coffee plantations to the historic port of Cartagena, plus the Amazon jungle and white sand beaches.
Harry Hastings, managing director of Plan South America, is working with the tourist board to promote Los Llanos, an area of spectacular tropical grasslands between Colombia and Venezuela. He explains: “It is an area full of llanero
culture, of cowboys and anacondas, with great wildlife and we have a luxury remote camp there.”
The sleepy colonial town of Mompox is also becoming more developed thanks to its striking similarity to Macondo, which features in the Gabriel Garcia Marquez epic One Hundred Years of Solitude. Meanwhile, new hiking routes are being developed to reach Colombia’s Pre-Columbian ruins known as the Lost City, set high in the jungle and the country’s version of Machu Picchu.
wtm.com
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