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Latin America’s booming economy and an influx of foreign investment will underpin rapid growth in business travel across the region over the coming year, according to HRG in Latin America. HRG recently held its inaugural Latin American Forum in Sao Paulo to debate opportunities and challenges for the business travel market in the region.
Delegates at the Forum, which attracted over 200 travel, events and corporate mobility professionals from 15 countries, conceded that regional powerhouses Brazil,Mexico and Argentina remain the key business travel hubs, generating around 75% of the region’s business travel volume. They also stressed however, that less established business travel destinations, notably Peru, Chile and Colombia are experiencing higher than average growth in corporate travel spend. According to GBTA’s Global Business Travel Spending Outlook 2011-2015, Colombia now accounts for 8.2% of business travel spending across Latin America, or $3.35bn.
Peter Vargas,Senior Vice President, HRG Latin America, said: “Multinational companies, particularly those in the infrastructure, telecoms and energy industries are recognising investment opportunities in smaller countries like Colombia, Chile and Peru,where the political and economic situation is stable. Peru’s convenient location is also a factor in its emergence as a business travel hub.
“Venezuela may have some political and reputational challenges, but huge energy deposits in the country have resulted in a number of well-known, multinational organisations establishing a regional presence. Meanwhile, it’s hard to ignore the effect the discovery of new energy deposits in Rio de Janeiro will have on the number of companies looking to establish a presence in the vicinity.”
As business travel increases, hotel groups are responding to the demand with significant investment taking place across the region to address capacity issues. Nevertheless, delegates at the Forum identified a significant rise in room rates across Latin America, particularly in Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
Peter Vargas said: “The markets across Latin America are still maturing and there is room for development in terms of travel infrastructure. With room rates rising, we’re working with a number of clients to help negotiate preferential rates, one day trips and high season avoidance.”
Technology also proved to be a major talking point at the Forum, with debate focusing on mobile innovations and the growth of online booking tools across Latin America. Peter Vargas commented: “Companies are looking for ways to ally technology and information to improve management and reduce costs. Clients are looking to understand how online booking tools can help them achieve this. Many global companies are now recommending the use of online booking tools,and achieving adoption rates of up to 80% for eligible transactions.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
