Airlines and operators are waking up to increased interest in the region and the deals on offer should boost business further
Increased competition on air routes into Latin America is helping to drive down prices for 1999. Tempted by the buoyant market to Latin America, airlines have stepped up frequencies dramatically over the past five years and are now finding themselves with spare seats to offload.
“Whereas the Far East has traditionally been served by lots of airlines, there hasn’t been that sort of competition in Latin America and consequently prices have stayed high. However, carriers are now waking up to the fact that there is lots of interest in the region and are putting on extra services,”said South American Experience director Andre de Mendonca.
“For example, five years ago Avianca had no direct service from the UK to Colombia. It now has three non-stop services to Bogota a week. Varig used to have three ex-UKflights a week to Rio. From July it will have seven.”
The first half of the year is typically low season for travel to Latin America. This, and the perception that the UK economy is flat, is prompting some carriers to try to kickstart the market with hugely discounted rates.
South American Experience is currently offering a fare of ú378 to the public for Heathrow-Bogota-Lima including passenger service charge and taxes, which is lower than the fare available 15 years ago.
US carriers, in particular Continental and American Airlines, are being especially aggressive. Continental is offering a return fare to Lima via New York or Houston which is more than ú100 cheaper than its rate for 1998.
“At the moment there are really good deals to be had almost everywhere in Latin America. The fares to Santiago in Chile with Iberia at the moment are the cheapest Ihave ever known them,” said de Mendonca.
However, the bad news is that this is not expected to last into the second half of the year which is traditionally peak period for travel to Latin America. In addition, most airlines have hiked their rates to jump on the millennium bandwagon.
The cheaper airfares have had a knock-on effect on the price of packaged tours. Cox and Kings has reduced prices by between ú40 and ú200 on certain itineraries. The operator’s Mexico and Guatemala Grand Tour is priced from ú1,975 this year compared to a lead-in of ú2,175 in 1998.
Similarly, Hayes and Jarvis’ seven-night Essential Peru tour has come down from ú1,309 in the first edition brochure to ú1,125.
Operators are generally upbeat about the region’s prospects for the year and point to Mexico and Costa Rica as the star performers. British Airways’ launch of weekly services into both destinations has also helped widen their appeal. Mundi Color makes its long-haul debut this week with a dedicated Mexico programme (see story, page 68) while Hayes and Jarvis hails Costa Rica as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of its latin programme.
“It’s a very user-friendly destination which has had a lot of exposure to the US and Canadian markets so it is ready for tourists. It has a very stable political situation and is a good, safe destination for people who like the great outdoors,” said product manager for Latin America Tim Milner
Destinations which work well as combinations with these two countries such as Guatemala and Belize are also selling well.
As one of the most expensive destinations in South America, Brazil has suffered in recent years but the devaluation of the local currency has brought down the cost of living and some competitive fares from Varig could tempt new business.
“I think the fact that Brazil is much cheaper now will lead to an increase in business later in the year,” said a Journey Latin America spokesman.