Central and South America’s travel and tourism sector will grow faster than the global average in 2026, with international visitor spending rising more than twice as quickly as the world rate, new World Travel & Tourism Council data shows. For operators and destinations, the figures point to a region drawing strength from domestic demand and its distance from the conflict disrupting Middle East and adjacent travel flows, opening a window for inbound businesses positioned to capture spending that is shifting away from higher-risk corridors.
Travel and tourism GDP across the region will grow 4.1% in 2026, ahead of the global average of 3.2%, according to the latest Economic Impact Research from the WTTC, sponsored by Chase Travel as lead research partner. International visitor spending is projected to rise 7.8%, more than double the global growth rate of 3.7%.
The Council attributes the regional outperformance to resilient domestic travel demand and lower exposure to the geopolitical disruption (see Iran, Israel) tied to the conflict in the Middle East, with affected transit routes and source markets carrying less weight than in other parts of the world.
Ecuador is forecast to lead the region with travel and tourism GDP growth of 11.6%, followed by Bolivia at 10.3%, supported by a 25.8% surge in international visitor spending. Argentina is projected to grow 4.9% and Colombia 5.7%.
Venezuela shows the steepest projected momentum, with travel and tourism GDP growth of 33.2% and a 34.8% rise in international visitor spending, though from a low base after years of constrained inbound activity.
In Central America, Guatemala’s sector is forecast to grow 6.1%, with international visitor spending up 9.3%, while Panama is projected to grow 8.4% with spending up 8.9%.
Brazil, one of the region’s largest markets, will grow more modestly at 2.1%, with international visitor spending up 3%.
Globally, the WTTC forecasts travel and tourism will contribute $12tn to the world economy in 2026, accounting for 9.9% of global GDP and supporting 376mn jobs. The sector is expected to support 18.5mn jobs across Central and South America, or 8.3% of all jobs in the region.
Why it matters for the trade
The headline number that should hold a tour operator’s attention is not the GDP figure but the 7.8% rise in visitor spend, because spending growth running at twice the GDP growth rate signals higher-yield travellers, not just more of them. Margin sits in that gap. Destinations converting volume into spend are where commercial returns concentrate, and the spread between Ecuador’s 11.6% GDP growth and Bolivia’s 25.8% spending surge tells operators which markets reward premium product over headcount.
The “lower exposure to geopolitical disruption” line is the strategic core of this release. With Middle East corridors and source markets dampened by the conflict, the WTTC is effectively documenting a redirection of discretionary long-haul spend. Operators with Latin America product on the shelf are positioned to absorb demand that would otherwise have flowed through routes now seen as higher-risk, and that substitution effect is the near-term commercial opportunity rather than the decade-long growth story the Council usually leads on.
The Venezuela and Bolivia figures demand caution before they reach a brochure. Growth rates above 30% come off depressed bases and depend on connectivity and traveller-confidence assumptions the WTTC itself flags as conditional. The bankable markets for trade partners filing product now are the mid-band performers with established infrastructure, Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, where high-single-digit spending growth is built on existing capacity rather than recovery from a standing start.
The downside risk the Council names, inflationary pressure and weaker consumer sentiment, is the one that erodes the yield advantage first. The same affordability that draws price-sensitive travellers to the region evaporates if local inflation outpaces source-market currencies, which makes destination pricing intelligence, not just availability, the differentiator for operators in 2026.
Context
The forecasts come from the WTTC’s Economic Impact Research, produced with Oxford Economics. Over the next decade, global travel and tourism GDP is forecast to grow at an annual 3.6%, 1.5 times faster than the wider global economy at 2.4%.
Watch points
Connectivity investment and airlift capacity into the high-growth Andean markets will determine whether the spending forecasts hold. Currency stability in Argentina and Venezuela remains the variable most likely to move the regional numbers between now and year-end. Operators should track whether the Middle East substitution effect proves durable or unwinds if those corridors stabilise.
Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of the WTTC, said the region was emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic travel and tourism markets, supported by strong domestic demand and rising international spending.
“The region has a real opportunity to strengthen its global competitiveness and secure sustained long-term growth,” she said.