Ana M. López
Research expert covering travel, tourism and hospitality
Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean - statistics & facts
The popularity of Latin America and the Caribbean as a travel destination has grown in recent years, after a prolonged unstable economic and political situation that impeded the expansion of the travel and tourism sector in the region. However, at the end of the 2010s and in 2022 and 2023 – right before the COVID-19 pandemic – the volume of international tourism in the region surpassed 110 million arrivals, with the United States as the main source of tourism in the region. In 2023, over 30 million U.S. citizens traveled to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mexico: the favorite destination
Mexico is the main thriving force for the Latin American tourism sector. In 2023, Mexico was by far the leading country for international tourism in the region, registering more arrivals than the combined total of the following eight countries on the list. Consequently, the North American country was the main contributor to the Latin American inbound travel spending that year. In total, foreign visitors in Mexico spent around 31 billion U.S. dollars – an almost four-fold difference from Brazil: the leading travel market in South America.South America: a budget destination
While Mexico attracts the highest number of international visitors in the entire Latin American region, South America has become increasingly attractive for budget travelers. In the past Travel and Tourism Development Report, countries in the subregion ranked high according to the tourism price competitiveness index. In early 2024, seven out of the ten most affordable cities for backpacking in Latin America were located in South America, with the Ecuadorean capital of Quito at the top of the list.Caribbean: the choice for cruise tourism
In the continent, the Caribbean dominates the tourism sector in terms of share of gross domestic product (GPD). The subregion – whose land area is smaller than those of Michigan, Romania, or Laos – is home to economies heavily reliant on tourism. Specifically, the region leads the cruise industry. In 2023, the Caribbean had the largest share of global cruise deployment, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the market worldwide.
