Tourism Destination Market Insight: South America (2024)

Analysis of destination markets, infrastructure and attractions, main and emerging source markets, as well as risks and opportunities in South America. This report explores the types of travelers that visit the region as well as a SWOT analysis.

Key Highlights

• Prior to COVID-19, inbound flows to the South American region grew at a CAGR of 2.79% between 2015 and 2019, reaching 35.07 million international arrivals in 2019. According to the analyst's traveler demands and flows database, this decreased to 9.68 million in 2020 and 5.14 million in 2021 due to the pandemic, before rebounding to 21.48 million in 2022. In 2023, international arrivals into the region reached 32.92 million travelers and are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2024 (40.19 million travelers).
• Many South American countries are highly dependent on neighboring regional countries to support their tourism economies. In 2019, arrivals from other South American countries accounted for 65.94% of international arrivals to the South America region, as inbound flows increased to 23.12 million in 2019 (CAGR 2015-19: 2.25%). In 2023, the overall trips undertaken by countries within the South American region were 21.91 million, which grew by 57.17% in comparison with 2022 (13.94 million trips).
• In 2023, many travelers came to the South America region for leisure purposes, with 20.52 million travelers, or 62.32% of overall international arrivals, being for this purpose. This was lower than the pre-pandemic level in 2019. Between 2015 and 2019, the overall number of international travelers for leisure purposes grew at a CAGR of 3.72%, while during 2020 and 2021, the performance was deeply impacted due to COVID-19 restrictions.
• According to the analyst's Q3 2021 consumer survey, just 19% of global respondents reported that they typically took eco holidays, as it was preferred by 20% of Gen Z, 23% of millennial respondents, 18% of Gen X respondents, 11% of boomer respondents, and 5% of silent generations. As per the same survey, 45% of global respondents stated that they are "extremely" worried and 29% of respondents are “quite worried” about environmental issues. Among respondents, 48% of Gen Z preferred environmental issues as extremely important, while 38% of the silent generation preferred them as quite important.

Scope

• This report is part of the analyst's Destination Market Insights Series. These reports provide an in-depth analysis of a tourist destination and its key source markets, as well as an assessment of the trends and issues in the covered destination market, in this case South America.

Reasons to Buy

• Obtain a clear and detailed insight into new developments in two popular tourist destinations.
• Use data and analysis to explore trends related to international arrivals and spending, tourism segments as well as construction, foreign direct investments (FDI), airlines and hotel developments.
• Gain a better understanding of the opportunities in the market, as well as the risks, to support better business decisions.