The meeting was held yesterday morning (26/9), bringing together 9 of AB’s 11 board members and included a presentation of a Euromonitor study with trends, recent figures and prospects for the next five years, as well as the announcement of the creation of a special working group for 2025, focused on emphasizing the event’s Latinity
A quick look at the recent past, without losing sight of the future that lies ahead. This was the motto of the first meeting held by the WTM Latin America Advisory Board members, a group made up of executives from different sectors of the tourism industry in Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. “I want to emphasize that this board is made up of people and not by the positions they currently hold, because we take into account the professional career of each one to make up the group with different experiences and visions that foster discussions and contribute to the growth of the event,” summarizes Bianca Pizzolito, Event Leader at WTM Latin America.
The first part was dedicated to presenting the “Where Tech meets Touch”, 2025, which was very appreciated and received positive comments from the board members. Bianca also reinforced the results of the 2024 edition, the biggest and best in history, and shared the goals for next year. “We’re seeing the growth curve happening and, by 2025, we’re expecting an 8% larger audience, with a major contribution of huge number of Latin American professionals attending the event,” she said. It also reinforces the goal of increasing the number of participants in the program by 24%. Hosted Buyers, also with a greater participation of invited buyers from different Latin countries.
The new features planned for the 2025 edition were also on the agenda, including the debut of three areas – Mobility, Experiences and Travel Providers – the expansion of the scope of the Diversity Route and the offer of tools that make the WTM Latin America a smart event – the Lead Manager App data collector (formerly Emperia), the Exhibitor Dashboard with analytical data and Colleqt, a new tool that will allow visitors to collect data from participating companies using a QR Code. “Smart events are the driving force behind RX. In this sense, we have been building on this idea every year, investing in the integration between the digital and the physical, which has total synergy with the theme of the next edition,” he says.
Present and future
Another highlight of the meeting was the presentation of a survey by Euromonitor International, a global business research company that analyzes and identifies consumer trends in multiple industries, including tourism. Mikaely Correa, research analyst at Euromonitor International, shared strategic insights, starting with the importance of personalization, as the study reveals the emergence of eight new traveler profiles: eco-adventurer, blended traveller, leisure seeker, cultural explorer, luxury seeker, digital traveler, wellness worshipper e adventure lover. Preferences change according to the traveler’s origin, with Latinos and North Americans preferring leisure-related attractions and Europeans favoring the cultural offerings of destinations, for example.
“Aspects such as promoting relaxation and safety are at the top of the ranking for all tourists, regardless of nationality,” Mikaely pointed out. The researcher also reveals that attractions and services linked to the promotion of well-being are the ones that have grown the most in searches, with an increase of 46.7% between 2019 and 2024.
According to data analysis company Euromonitor International, the tourism industry is expected to close the year with a total revenue of US$ 2.8 trillion, which puts it ahead of other markets such as wellness and personal care, which is also very important in Latin America. Latin America occupies fourth place in this ranking, with revenues estimated at almost US$ 200 billion dollars in 2024, which represents 7% of the global industry’s total revenues in 2024. North America leads the share, with projected revenues of US$ 800 billion, followed by Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. In the study’s projection, the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is 7.6% between 2025 and 2029.
The meeting was attended in alphabetical order by: Ana Biselli, Bruno Reis, Danielle Roman, Estela Farina, Fabio Godinho, Mariana Aldrigui, Mariella Volppe, Natalia Pisoni e Paola Gomes, also including the WTM Latin America staff, led by Bianca Pizzolito.
Bianca seized the opportunity at the meeting to also announce the creation of a group focused on deepening the Latin American character of the event, bringing discussions, agendas and strategies that will guide further actions at the event. “The idea is for the group to meet periodically to develop strategies and perspectives to make the event more and more Latin,” she concludes Bianca.