The report's growth scenario
The 2024 report, "Unlocking Opportunities for Travel & Tourism Growth in LATAM," sets out a policy-dependent path to annualized growth of 3.4%, bringing the sector's economic contribution to nearly $909.2 billion over its 10-year horizon.
Its starting point is a sector that contributed more than $629 billion to the regional economy in 2023, when Latin America welcomed 86 million international travelers. Travel and tourism supported more than 24.6 million livelihoods, accounting for 9% of the region's jobs.
WTTC describes a recovery following disruptions including the 2008 global financial crisis, disease outbreaks and political instability. The report projected a record year in 2024, with an economic contribution exceeding $650 billion and one million additional jobs, bringing employment to 25.7 million.
Later research uses a broader region and a separate forecast
WTTC's 2025 Economic Impact Research, produced with Oxford Economics, subsequently reported a $714 billion contribution for 2024 across Latin America and the Caribbean, or LAC. WTTC defines that region as Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
The later research put tourism's share of LAC's GDP at 10% and employment at 28.2 million jobs, or one in every 11 jobs. International visitors spent $144.4 billion in 2024. The economic contribution and employment figures were higher than the earlier report's projections of more than $650 billion and 25.7 million jobs, though the regional coverage differs.
The 2025 research also offers a separate outlook: by 2035, travel and tourism could contribute $944.8 billion to the LAC economy and support more than 35.4 million jobs. Measured against 2025, that represents about $206 billion in additional economic value and six million new jobs. Those figures should not be conflated with the earlier report's nearly $260 billion and eight million-job scenario.
Infrastructure, visas and investment
The WTTC-VFS Global report pairs investment in transportation infrastructure and air connections with easier visa procedures and destination marketing. WTTC's president and CEO also urged countries to strengthen protection for biodiversity and nature.
The recommendations extend to water management and low-carbon energy, with the aim of attracting visitors while protecting the environment. The report presents investment in local people and conservation as ways to improve visitors' experiences and make tourism more inclusive. It also identifies safety measures as important to traveler trust and sustained growth.
Digital tools have a role in both the travel experience and marketing, the report says, allowing destinations to use data to guide their campaigns.
WTTC's later, 2025 regional research groups the conditions for sustainable growth into five areas: talent and employment; resilient infrastructure and connectivity; digital transformation; the business environment; and access to finance. It says regional tourism investment still lags global benchmarks and calls for reforms, better regulation and closer cooperation between government and business.
VFS Global founder and CEO Zubin Karkaria described the earlier report as a guide for governments, national tourism boards and other stakeholders developing investment and visitor-growth strategies. He said the company had operated in Latin America since 2009 and was serving 18 government partners across 29 cities in 17 countries.
A regional tourism task force
WTTC and the Inter-American Development Bank announced the launch of a Tourism Task Force on May 29, 2025, during the Americas Business Dialogue's plenary meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The initiative aimed to promote travel and tourism as a source of economic growth, employment and resilience across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The announced schedule called for the task force to meet throughout 2025 to develop policy recommendations and investment strategies, with its conclusions to be presented at the CEO Summit of the Americas in Punta Cana in December 2025.
