Interested in the Latin America Market? Check out La Cita

Whether Latin America is a new venture for your organization or an established part of your portfolio, you may want to consider La Cita (Spanish for the appointment) as you are developing your marketing strategies for the region.

La Cita is a new one-on-one appointment event hosted by the Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau in the Broward County Convention Center, September 30 - October 2. This two-day event will focus on building relationships and partnerships to grow inbound travel from Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Attendance is by invitation to individuals who are approved and pre-registered on the La Cita online business network. To learn more, go to:http://www.lacitaamericas.com/

The new event is receiving widespread support from throughout the hemisphere - suppliers, buyers, VUSA, and marketing services organizations - who realize the tremendous value of LATAM and the Caribbean.

La Cita Managing Director, Rick Still said, “The focus on relationships and partnerships is especially important in Latin America where leading buyers seek suppliers who understand the opportunities, the pressures and the importance of trust.”

In 2012, visitors from these markets grew by nine percent and, since 2007; Latin America travel to the US grew by a solid 12%. Right now, these markets - excluding Mexico - are up by 45%, almost twice the growth of all overseas arrivals. The real growth in the region has been from South America which has posted an astonishing 94% increase in arrivals when compared to 2007; faster than any other world regional growth.

Beyond the growth in individual and group travelers, the length of stay and per capita expenditures from this region are among the highest in the world. These markets are also heavily influenced by the large (and growing) US Hispanic population and the historically strong business ties between the US and LATAM.

Inbound travel from LATAM and the Caribbean is one of our highest exports in the services sector. The top Arrival markets are Brazil (1.8 million, up 19% over 2011), Venezuela (675,000, up 20% over 2011), Argentina (615,000, up 20% over 2011) and Colombia (602,000, up 21% over 2011).

By 2018, total inbound LATAM travel is forecast to surpass the 25 million mark, or up 22% from 2012. South America will be the growth region between now and 2018, expanding to 6.7 million travelers, up 52% compared to 2012. Brazil may reach nearly 3 million visitors and Argentina and Colombia are forecast to surpass Venezuela by 2018.

To learn more about these markets, please be sure to attend the OTTI Special Market Report at La Cita in which a staff member from the Office of Travel & Tourism Industries will present the latest data on Latin markets to and from the United States.

Visit the 2012 arrivals and spending links to check out the current volume and rates of change as well as the OTTI international travel forecast. While 2012 world region and country profiles will not be available until August 2013, you can view the 2011 market profiles for each of the world regions and selected countries. More details will be provided on these visitors at the conference in an OTTI review of the Latin markets. To learn more about the Latin Market to the USA, go to:http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/inbound.general_information.inbound_overview.html