With rapid growth all across the region, it’s no surprise that business travel in Latin America is in the midst of a rapid change. Despite the advances in e-business and technology, many people still value face-to-face meetings over virtual ones, and as a result, the travel industry is listening. There are now more direct flights to more cities in Central and South America than ever before.  New hotels are being constructed, or remodeled. And the infrastructure in getting business travelers back and forth from destination is being updated, and made more efficient. In short, business travel in Latin America has never been easier.

Where’s the Growth?

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), in their “Global Business Travel Spending Outlook 2011-2015” Brazil, Mexico and Argentina remain the key business travel hubs, generating around 75% of the region’s business travel volume. And while this statistic isn’t necessarily new, it’s the other, less traditional business hubs, such as Colombia, Chile, and Peru, which are really starting to impress the average business traveler. According the same study, Colombia now makes up 8.2% of total business travel spending in the region. To break that down another way, that’s USD $3.35 billion annually; a number unheard of not too many years back.

What’s Growing?

Despite industry-wide economic challenges, the Airline industry has a large part to do with the business travel growth in Latin America. Major Latin American carriers such as Copa, LATAM, and Tame have added new routes from more US and European cities, with plans for more on the way in the future. More direct flights to key business centers have also been added to save time, and to make short trips easier, something that was a big challenge in the past. They have also made tickets more affordable, giving big companies more incentive to send more than one associate at a time to do business.

And much like any other aspect of the travel industry, when one part grows, the other parts grow around it. In this case, the hotel industry is picking up the pace. As business travel increases, hotel groups are responding to the demand with significant investment taking place across the region to address capacity issues. New hotels are being built closer to airports, and developing, or constructing business centers and conference halls within those hotels has become a top priority for groups like Hilton, Marriott, and NH Hotels.

There is also significant airport expansion in places like Sao Paolo, Panama City, and Santiago, in order to help facilitate and ease new travel volume.

The bottom line in business travel is efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and the overall value of doing business face-to-face. Companies know this. The travel industry knows this. And both are working feverishly to make sure they can meet each other’s expectations, and keep Latin American business travel alive and well for the long haul. While there are still many obstacles to overcome to fully streamline efficient business travel in the region, the work is being done, and the amount of travelers keep increasing. Only time will tell if it’s sustainable, but as of now, the outlook is pretty clear: doing face-to-face business in Latin America is getting easier, and the best has yet to come.

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