Year 2007 is going to be the fourth year of sustained growth according to United Nations World Tourism Organization. This concerns also Latin America. South America recorded a 8.1% increase of tourism. South America benefits from growing number of European tourists as well as from higher expenditures by US travellers. Nevertheless, domestic travel is still the most important part of the tourism industry.
There were various reasons why people decided to go to South American countries. Among others these were global factors like, SARS, 9/11 terrorist attacks or generally good political stability in the region and of course the weakening dollar. And people are also interested in local wine, music and culture. According to the Latin America Travel Association (LATA) big sellers are Mexico, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.
Tourism is important for Latin America as it creates new jobs and therefore helps fight poverty. Iberoamerica receives some 15% of worldwide tourist arrivals and it earned some 90 billion US dollars (73 billion euros) in 2005. The industry is growing and it is expected to be even more dynamic in the following years.
There is also an increase in number of business travellers coming to the region. For Brazil the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector is the most important. The MICE sector represents 30% of the whole tourism activity in this country. Brazil is even trying to get better ranking in International Congress & Convention Association. In Argentina tourism industry is providing more jobs than ever.