New report from Amadeus, in collaboration with UN Tourism, finds intra-regional travel anchoring demand while new destinations and Asian-origin interest emerge
Latin America Travel Trends 2026 at a Glance:
- Travel across the Americas grew modestly (+0.8%), but growth varied significantly by subregion, with Central America (+7.5%) and South America (+5.5%) outperforming the regional average.
- Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador saw some of the region's strongest increases in travel search interest.
- Intra-regional travel remains the backbone of demand across Latin America, while interest from Asia is rising, particularly from Japan and the Philippines.
- Travelers are increasingly exploring beyond traditional hotspots, with destinations such as Aruba, Sint Maarten and the Cayman Islands gaining momentum.
- Hospitality performance remains broadly stable across the region, while booking-window and traveler-age trends reveal different opportunities for destinations and hoteliers by subregion.
- All insights are powered by Amadeus Travel Intelligence and Amadeus Destination Gateway, combining air, hotel and traveler data to provide a comprehensive view of tourism trends across the Americas.
Between May 2025 and April 2026, passenger traffic across the Americas grew 0.8% year-over-year, with volumes remaining closely aligned to scheduled capacity throughout the period according to a new report from Amadeus, Travel Insights 2026: Focus on the Americas, released in collaboration with UN Tourism. The report draws on Amadeus Travel Intelligence data to examine how demand is shifting across the Caribbean, Central America and South America.
That headline figure obscures variation across the region: Central America grew by 7.5% and South America by 5.5%, while North America was flat at -0.1%, and the Caribbean softened by 2.5%, the only subregion in the Americas to contract.
"At Amadeus, we believe data‑driven insight is most valuable in moments like this, when each subregion tells its own story and the region as a whole is reshaping itself in subtle but decisive ways. This report offers a view of the trends shaping tourism across Latin America today: where travelers are coming from, how they are booking, and where demand is moving."
Sergio Rosarios Regional Vice President, Latin America & Caribbean, Hospitality, Amadeus
"UN Tourism is committed to supporting destinations in driving economic growth, inclusive development, and environmental sustainability. Trusted, accurate and insightful market intelligence is key to ensuring destinations across the Americas have the tools they need to understand their own position and plan accordingly, whether that means consolidating a stable base or capturing the early signals of new demand."
Shaikha Al Nuwais Secretary-General, UN Tourism
Capacity and searches rising for Central America, bookings still adjusting
Central America recorded the strongest air passenger traffic growth in the Americas over the period, up 7.5% year-over-year, supported by a 9% increase in scheduled seat capacity — a sign that airlines are continuing to expand access to the subregion.
Search volume points in the same direction. Guatemala (+34%), Belize (+33%) and El Salvador (+31%) led year-over-year search growth, reflecting a shifting curiosity toward culturally rich and less-explored destinations.
Bookings, by contrast, are still catching up. Booked air traffic was mixed across the subregion, with most destinations holding
below prior-year (May 2024 – Apr 2025) levels and only Belize and Honduras edging up slightly (+1% each). This underlines a period of adjustment — where maintaining current demand is a steady near-term outcome, and where growing search volume represents an opportunity to convert curiosity into confirmed bookings.
Latin America is trending in Japan and the Philippines, with intra-regional travel still the backbone of demand in the region
Intra-regional travel continued to anchor demand across the region, reflecting the importance of regional connectivity. For example, in South America, search growth from the US (39%) and Canada (35%) signals potential future conversion. However, Latin America does seem to be experiencing a new surge of interest from travelers from Asia.
More specifically, interest from Japan and the Philippines saw notable growth. Air traffic from the Philippines to Central America grew 10%, while air traffic to South America and the Caribbean from the same countries grew 8% and 7% respectively. Central America is also on Japanese travelers’ minds, with travel search interest growing 20% year-over-year, and travel to South America from Japan growing 8% year-over-year.
At the same time, demand is being redistributed across a broader set of destinations than before. In the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic remained the top booked destination, though growth was modest at 2% year-over-year, while Aruba — the fifth most booked destination — showed stronger momentum, with air bookings up 8% and search volumes up 36%. At the smaller end of the scale, Montserrat grew 400% from a low base. With a 41% search growth and 8% booking growth Sint Maarten and the Cayman Islands (59% search growth) are also destinations to watch.
Hospitality performance holds firm, while traveler age and booking patterns point to different revenue strategies by subregion
Hospitality performance across the Americas was broadly stable over the period. In the Caribbean, occupancy showed resilience through peak season and average daily rates held firm, providing a solid base for revenue planning even as overall passenger volumes softened. In South America, occupancy follows a clear, repeatable seasonal pattern, peaking in November, with a secondary peak in March.
Traveler age and booking-window patterns also point to different revenue strategies by subregion. The Caribbean draws a broad and mature traveler base spanning ages 36 to 65, and Central America's largest demographic is broader group ofadult leisure travelers, ranging from 26 to 65 years old. Both subregions skew toward long-term planning, with the 61-to-180-day lead time window the most dominant booking pattern at 25% of bookings, giving destinations a longer runway for early marketing and pricing. South America presents a different pattern: the 1-to-14-day window accounts for a notable share of bookings, pointing to traveler openness to spontaneous trips and an opportunity for quick-turnaround offers, weekend packages and flash campaigns.
About Amadeus Destination Gateway
“Travel Insights 2026: Focus on The Americas” draws on data from Amadeus Destination Gateway, part of our Amadeus Travel Intelligence offering. The tool blends historical and forward-looking hotel, air and traveler sociodemographic data from Amadeus’ expansive business intelligence suite for a 360° view of the traveler journey. Intuitive dashboards are designed to help destinations quickly identify what is happening in their market, including air searches, hotel bookings, emerging traveler trends, top source markets, visitor profiles and length of stay.
The full report is available to download at Travel Insights 2026: Focus On The Americas - May 2025 To April 2026 - Amadeus Hospitality.
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