Perhaps it’s not earth-shattering news, but the significance of recently hosting 11 tour operators from Paraguay (see related photo and caption) should not be underestimated.
Especially with the cancellation of this year’s St. Martin/St. Maarten Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART) it’s necessary to keep working on Latin America. In fact, the further development of this market could prove a key factor to ensure the long-term sustainability of the local hospitality industry.
The need to diversify the island’s economy has often been pointed out, but this is easier said than done. What also can help is to have different thriving segments within tourism, something the destination has done fairly well in due to its – all relatively strong – stay-over, cruise and yachting sectors.
Another way to become less vulnerable is by not focussing too much on the dominant North American source market. That has the added advantage of possibly attracting more business during the traditionally low season, as visitors from other areas probably will be less tied to the winter period in the US and Canada.
Up to now much of the attention for the Southern Hemisphere has been directed towards Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, also because citizens of the latter country no longer need visas to visit the Dutch side. However, Paraguay as well as Peru, Chile and Ecuador offer great potential too and there is certainly no logical reason to exclude them.
Crucial in this continuing endeavour is airlift and – it must be said – Copa Airlines has turned out to be a loyal partner. Of course, establishing more varied connections than via Panama remains desirable, but the current flights at least provide a stable platform to target the countries in question.
