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Latin American Economy and Tourism

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Tourism in Latin America

Abstract

This chapter analyses tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from a broad economic perspective. Despite of its immense potential, tourism in LAC has presented disappointing results. The region has some of the best natural and cultural attractions, but still receives only 7.7 % of world international tourist arrivals. A myriad of aspects can be listed as causes of this deficit, most of them being related to more general economic and political problems. Most LAC countries are developing economies characterized by poor public policies, deep social inequality, low educational levels, faulty investments and a long history of poverty, characteristics that provide hard conditions for tourism development. Nevertheless, general economic and political conditions seem to be improving over the last years. The region is going to face some relevant opportunities in the near future and development perspectives are relatively good. This chapter’s introduction analyzes LAC’s economic history and general economic conditions. An overview of tourism supply in LAC is presented next. Tourist attractions, infrastructure, services and governance are briefly described. International and domestic tourism figures are analyzed subsequently. Arrivals, receipts and contribution to GDP are examined by country and region. Finally, some present challenges and future perspectives for tourism in LAC are debated.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Latin America itself groups the set of American countries which had Spanish, Portuguese or French colonization. The Caribbean corresponds to those countries and territories in the Caribbean Sea, including islands and continental areas. In this study, the operational definition of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) includes the following countries and territories: American Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay and Venezuela.

  2. 2.

    Information available only for 129 countries.

  3. 3.

    Information about the HDI was obtained from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP, 2013).

  4. 4.

    General information about the economy of each country was obtained from the World Bank database (World Bank, 2012). The main statistics quoted along the text are available for each country at Appendices 1 and 2.

  5. 5.

    The reality of Cuba is so unique that it will receive little attention in the following analysis. The complexity of the Cuban case has been examined by various specific studies. Some of the recommended studies about this case are Henthorne and Miller (2003), Padilla and McElroy (2007), Miller, Henthorne, and George (2008), Sharpley and Knight (2009) and Taylor and McGlynn (2009).

  6. 6.

    According to the Choice Awards promoted by TripAdvisor (2013), six out of the top ten best beach destinations of the world are in LAC.

  7. 7.

    Data from the “Red List of Threatened Species 2010” published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and available on WEF (2013).

  8. 8.

    A very interesting analysis of the relationship between public safety and tourism in Colombia is available on Ospina (2006).

  9. 9.

    According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Yearbook (UNWTO, 2010).

  10. 10.

    Information about international tourist flows was obtained from the UNWTO (2013).

  11. 11.

    Information about the origin of international tourist was obtained from the UNWTO (UNWTO, 2010).

  12. 12.

    Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is strongly based on the exports of oil derivatives. Cuba’s economy is highly singular because of its socialist regime and due to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the USA. Puerto Rico’s economy is defined by its political condition of USA associated free state.

  13. 13.

    Information about international tourism receipts were obtained from the World Bank database (World Bank, 2012).

  14. 14.

    Information about the domestic or international nature of guests in accommodation services were obtained from the UNWTO Yearbook (UNWTO, 2010).

  15. 15.

    Information about the economic contribution of tourism was obtained from the WTTC (2013).

  16. 16.

    Information about GDP growth rates were obtained from the International Monetary Fund database (IMF, 2013).

  17. 17.

    The economic success of Dominican Republic from 2007 to 2012 is due to several factors, including an expansionist monetary policy, fiscal incentives to production, IMF interventions and to the production oriented towards the foreign market.

  18. 18.

    Such as monopolies and other sorts of imperfect competition, externalities, public goods and information asymmetry.

  19. 19.

    Discrimination against foreign companies included some cases in the tourism sector, such as the expropriation of Hilton hotels in Venezuela.

  20. 20.

    China is already the third largest market for international trips, while Russia is top seven (UNWTO, 2012).

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Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges the contributions of the Mexican economist Óscar Saenz de Miera.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Glauber Eduardo de Oliveira Santos

Authors
  1. Glauber Eduardo de Oliveira Santos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Glauber Eduardo de Oliveira Santos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Arts, Science and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo - USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Alexandre Panosso Netto

  2. School of Arts, Science and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo - USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Luiz Gonzaga Godoi Trigo

Appendices

Appendix 1: Economic Information About LAC

Country or territory

GDP (US$ billion)b

GDP per capita (US$ thousand)b

GDP per capita average growth rate (%)

Aggregated value by sector (US$ billion)e

Human Development Index (position at the world ranking)f

Income Gini Index (position at the world ranking)f

Concentrated income (%)g

Goods and services exports (US$ billion)h

1960–2012c

2007–2012d

Agriculture

Industry

Services

10 % richest

10 % poorest

American Virgin Islands

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Anguilla

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Antigua and Barbuda

1.2

13.2

–

−3.9

0.0*

0.2*

0.8*

67

–

–

–

0.5*

Argentina

470.5

11.5

1.1**

5.4

38.6

129.2

216.5

45

44.5

32.3

1.46

92.8

Aruba

2.6*

25.4*

–

–

0.0*

0.4*

1.9*

–

–

–

–

1.8*

Bahamas

8.1

21.9

0.9

−0.4

0.2*

1.2*

5.9*

49

–

–

–

3.4*

Barbados

4.2

14.9

2.1

−0.6

0.1

0.6

2.9

38

–

–

–

1.8

Belize

1.4*

4.6*

2.8*

2.7

0.1***

0.3***

0.8***

96

–

42.2

0.94

0.9*

Bermuda

5.6*

86.1*

2.2*

–

0.0*

0.4*

5.0*

–

–

–

–

–

Bolivia

27.0

2.6

0.7

4.8

2.3*

7.3*

9.1*

108

56.3

43.28

0.45

12.8

Bonaire

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Brazil

2,252.7

11.3

2.3

3.2

100.3

503.2

1,310.5

85

54.7

42.93

0.77

282.9

British Virgin Islands

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Cayman Islands

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Chile

268.2

15.4

2.6

3.8

8.6*

88.6*

136.0*

40

52.1

42.77

1.53

91.7

Colombia

369.8

7.8

2.1

3.9

22.0

126.8

189.2

91

55.9

44.43

0.87

63.7*

Costa Rica

45.2

9.4

2.2

3.2

2.4*

9.5*

25.4*

62

50.7

39.5

1.23

17.0

Cuba

60.8**

5.4**

–

–

2.5***

10.5***

37.5***

59

–

–

–

12.5***

Curaçao

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Dominica

0.5

6.7

–

1.4

0.1*

0.1*

0.3*

72

–

–

–

0.2*

Dominican Republic

59.0

5.7

3.0

5.0

3.1*

17.2*

31.7*

96

47.2

36.41

1.81

14.7

Ecuador

84.0

5.4

1.6

4.5

7.5*

27.5*

39.3*

89

49.3

38.32

1.35

26.2

El Salvador

23.9

3.8

1.1

0.7

2.7*

5.7*

12.8*

107

48.3

37

1.03

6.8

French Guiana

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Grenada

0.8

7.5

–

−1.2

0.0*

0.1*

0.5*

63

–

–

–

0.2*

Guadeloupe

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Guatemala

50.5

3.4

1.3

2.8

5.0*

13.1*

25.9*

133

55.9

44.92

1.06

12.6

Guyana

2.9

3.6

1.0

4.0

0.5*

0.8*

1.0*

118

–

33.97

1.33

0.7****

Haiti

7.8

0.8

–

1.3

–

–

–

161

59.2

47.67

0.66

1.0*

Honduras

18.5

2.3

1.3

2.6

2.3*

4.4*

9.4*

120

57.0

42.4

0.43

9.3

Jamaica

14.8

5.5

–

−1.0

0.8*

2.7*

8.9*

85

45.5

35.9

2.25

4.5*

Martinique

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Mexico

1,178.0

9.7

1.8

1.8

46.4

415.1

679.0

61

48.3

37.51

1.99

387.5

Montserrat

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Nicaragua

10.5

1.8

0.1

3.2

1.7*

2.2*

4.9*

129

40.5

31.51

2.61

3.8*

Panama

36.3

9.5

2.7

8.6

1.1**

4.2**

19.4**

59

51.9

40.08

1.1

20.6**

Paraguay

25.5

3.8

2.1

3.6

4.0

6.5

12.6

111

52.4

41.11

0.98

11.9

Peru

197.0

6.6

1.5

6.5

10.3*

58.5*

91.9*

77

48.1

36.11

1.39

50.2

Puerto Rico

101.5

27.7

3.1

–

0.7*

49.3*

48.8*

–

–

–

–

78.0*

Saba

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Saint Barthélemy

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Saint Kitts and Nevis

0.7

14.0

–

−0.6

0.0*

0.1*

0.4*

72

–

–

–

0.2*

Saint Lucia

1.2

6.6

–

1.1

0.0*

0.2*

0.8*

88

–

32.48

2.01

0.6*

Saint Martin

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

0.7

6.5

2.5

−0.6

0.0*

0.1*

0.4*

83

–

–

–

0.2*

Sint Eustatius

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Sint Maarten

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Suriname

4.7

8.9

–

4.1

0.4*

1.5*

2.1*

105

–

40.56

1.11

0.5****

Trinidad and Tobago

24.0

17.9

2.2

−0.7

0.1*

12.9*

9.6*

67

–

29.89

2.07

12.1**

Turks and Caicos

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Uruguay

49.1

14.4

1.7

5.7

3.8*

9.6*

26.9*

51

45.3

34.36

1.91

9.2***

Venezuela

381.3

12.7

0.1

2.0

21.2**

190.6**

153.7**

71

44.8

33.17

1.2

99.8

Netherlands Antilles

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Caribbean islandsa

293.5

7.1

2.8

0.8

7.7

95.8

155.5

–

–

–

–

131.7

Central Americaa

186.3

4.2

1.9

3.2

15.3

39.4

98.5

–

–

–

–

71.1

South Americaa

4,132.6

10.3

1.7

3.9

219.7

1,150.2

2,189.0

–

–

–

–

742.3

LAC

5,823.6

9.6

1.8**

3.6

290.2

1,716.5

3,159.7

–

–

–

–

1,370.6

World

71,918.4

10.2

1.8**

3.2

2,960.9*

17,331.5**

39,285.8**

–

–

–

–

22,448.4

  1. – unavailable data
  2. aEstimates ignoring countries with unavailable data
  3. bData for 2012, except *2011, **2008. Source: World Bank (2013)
  4. c*2011, **2006. Source: World Bank (2013)
  5. d Source: IMF (2013)
  6. eData for 2012, except *2011, **2010, ***2008. Source: World Bank (2013)
  7. fData for 2013. Source: UNDP (2013)
  8. gMost recent available data. Source: World Bank (2013)
  9. hData for 2012, except *2011, **2010, ***2008, ****2005. Source: World Bank (2013)

Appendix 2: Tourism Information About LAC

Country or territory

UNESCO World Heritageb

Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (world rank)c

International inbound tourism

Origin of the international inbound touristsg

Participation of cruise passengers on the international inbound tourism (% of total)g

Tourism GDPh

Cultural

Mixed

Natural

Prioritization of travel and tourism

Air transport infrastructure

Natural resources

Cultural resources

Arrivals (thousand)e

Receipts (US$ billion)f

Americas (% of total)

Europe (% of total)

US$ billion

% of GDP

American Virgin Islands

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

536*

1.0*

–

–

72.0

0.58

12.1

Anguilla

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

65

–

83.8

13.2

3.1

0.05

22.9

Antigua and Barbuda

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

247

0.3

57.1

41.4

63.1

0.211

18.5

Argentina

4

0

4

81

66

20

44

5,599

6.1

78.8

16.5

–

16.51

3.5

Aruba

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

904

1.4

90.6

8.9

40.2

0.683

26.5

Bahamas

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

1,419

2.3

91.0

6.5

65.1

1.719

21.9

Barbados

0

0

0

8

32

133

50

536

1.1*

54.4

44.0

51.2

0.553

11.8

Belize

0

0

1

–

–

–

–

277

0.3

80.0

13.9

70.9

0.19

12.4

Bermuda

1

0

0

–

–

–

–

232

0.5

82.2

13.3

52.0

0.442

7.2

Bolivia

5

0

1

128

104

27

72

946*

0.5

59.4

31.5

–

0.753

2.8

Bonaire

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

56.8

41.9

70.4

–

–

Brazil

12

0

7

102

48

1

23

5,677

6.8

57.1

35.9

–

76.929

3.4

British Virgin Islands

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

351

–

–

–

61.2

0.274

27.1

Cayman Islands

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

322

0.4*

92.1

6.9

83.7

0.24

7.0

Chile

5

0

0

56

55

93

53

3,554

2.7

79.8

16.6

–

7.727

2.9

Colombia

4

0

2

88

73

16

37

2,175

3.1

79.3

18.6

9.5

6.187

1.6

Costa Rica

0

0

3

20

44

7

93

2,343

2.4

84.0

14.4

13.3

2.164

4.8

Cuba

7

0

2

–

–

–

–

2,688

2.5

59.6

39.2

0.2

2.01

2.7

Curaçao

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

420

0.5

64.8

33.5

45.7

–

–

Dominica

0

0

1

–

–

–

–

78

0.1

85.2

13.6

81.2

0.05

9.5

Dominican Republic

1

0

0

9

59

130

100

4,563

4.4

53.5

32.9

9.5

2.755

4.7

Ecuador

2

0

2

76

84

13

76

1,272

0.8

76.1

20.0

–

1.439

1.9

El Salvador

1

0

0

93

80

132

113

1,255

0.7

97.0

2.4

–

0.721

3.0

French Guiana

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

33.9*

61.5*

–

–

–

Grenada

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

112

0.1

50.8

34.6

68.5

0.05

6.3

Guadeloupe

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

418*

–

–

99.5***

16.4***

0.264

2.2

Guatemala

2

1

0

94

100

47

88

1,305

1.4

99.4

10.8

3.7

1.617

3.2

Guyana

0

0

0

65

105

97

132

157*

0.1*

88.5*

7.6*

–

0.108

4.1

Haiti

1

0

0

–

–

–

–

349*

0.2

85.9

5.9

62.2

0.145

1.8

Honduras

1

0

1

57

70

48

106

906

0.7

90.1

9.0

27.3

1.071

5.8

Jamaica

0

0

0

7

63

80

108

1,986

2.1

83.2

16.2

38.2

1.256

8.3

Martinique

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

487

–

18.6*

80.8*

12.6*

0.262

2.4

Mexico

27

0

5

34

49

8

21

23,403

12.3

87.9

6.7

7.0

68.252

5.7

Montserrat

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

5

–

67.6

31.1

3.6

–

–

Nicaragua

2

0

0

83

112

52

101

1,180

0.4

83.2

6.8

4.8

0.361

4.8

Panama

2

0

3

32

16

11

77

1,606

2.9

77.4

7.9

13.3

1.878

5.2

Paraguay

1

0

0

52

136

100

107

579

0.3

89.7

7.9

–

0.426

1.8

Peru

7

2

2

58

75

12

43

2,846

2.9

72.2

22.1

2.9

6.838

3.3

Puerto Rico

1

0

0

41

40

104

92

3,069

3.1

78.2

–

27.8

2.226

2.1

Saba

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

43.3

46.7

–

–

–

Saint Barthélemy

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Saint Kitts and Nevis

1

0

0

–

–

–

–

102

0.1

89.3

8.3

76.4

0.05

7.5

Saint Lucia

0

0

1

–

–

–

–

307

0.3

66.9

31.8

67.0

0.169

13.2

Saint Martin

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

74

0.1

72.6

26.2

64.0

0.04

6.0

Sint Eustatius

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

32.2

52.5

–

–

–

Sint Maarten

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

457

0.7

70.7

21.7

73.9

–

–

Suriname

1

0

1

114

97

38

91

240

0.1

31.3*

66.3*

–

0.05

1.1

Trinidad and Tobago

0

0

0

117

56

75

69

386**

0.6*

83.1

14.5

10.2

–

–

Turks and Caicos

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

354*

0.3**

89.1**

10.1**

–

–

–

Uruguay

1

0

0

24

87

108

46

2,695

2.4

79.7

7.2

11.4

1.685

3.4

Venezuela

2

0

1

120

92

24

103

710

0.8

54.8

40.5

13.1

12.35

3.1

Netherlands Antilles

0

0

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

0.639

10.7

Caribbean islandsa

12

0

4

–

–

–

–

20,887

20.9

68.5

23.1

–

14.668

4.5

Central Americaa

8

1

7

–

–

–

–

8,872

8.7

88.4

9.3

–

8.002

4.4

South Americaa

44

2

20

–

–

–

–

26,673

26.6

71.3

22.9

–

131.002

3.1

LAC

91

3

36

–

–

–

–

79,835

69.0

77.8

16.2

–

221.924

3.8

World

704

27

180

–

–

–

–

1,035,000

1,249.5

16.5

52.6

–

2,056.72

2.8

  1. – Unavailable data
  2. aEstimates ignoring countries with unavailable data
  3. bData for 2013. Source: UNESCO (2013)
  4. cData for 2013. Source: WEF (2013)
  5. dData for 2012, except *2011, **2010. Source: UNWTO (2013)
  6. eData for 2011, except *2010, **2002. Source: World Bank (2013)
  7. gData for 2008, except *2007, **2006, ***2005. Source: UNWTO (2010)
  8. hData for 2012. Source: WTTC (2013)

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de Oliveira Santos, G.E. (2015). Latin American Economy and Tourism. In: Panosso Netto, A., Trigo, L. (eds) Tourism in Latin America. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05735-4_2

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