Latin America as target market area

By Sami AuvinenLatin America, together with Asia and the Middle East, is one of the fastest growing outbound travel markets (15% growth in 2011), which is partly due to the growing middle class in the area. In Mexico, for instance, 60 percent of the 112 million inhabitants belong to this growing middle class. People spend much more money in luxury products and travelling, than before. The share of long-haul outbound travel is increasing rapidly in the area (e.g. outbound long-haul travel from Mexico has increased 42% in the past decade) and this growing middle class is also looking for new interesting destinations, in addition to the traditional ones in Europe (UK, France and Spain).  The countries around Baltic Sea attract Latin American travelers with different cultural and nature experiences. In many cases, the first trip to the area is a Baltic Sea holiday cruise, which gives the traveler a quick peak of the different destinations.A Latin American traveler is very interested and willing to pay for excellent quality and exotic experiences. The countries of the Baltic Sea have a lot to offer to them! (More information, only in Finnish, on Mexican and Brazilian travelers: TEM Toimialaraportti, Matkailun Ohjelmapalvelut: Finpron Kansainvälistymiskatsaus – Matkailu Latinalaisesta Amerikasta kasvaa. 2012. Link to the report: http://www.temtoimialapalvelu.fi/files/1682/Matkailun_ohjelmapalvelut2012_web.pdf).