Beach destinations lead New Year’s performance in Latin America

Latin America’s beach destinations, always popular on the international and domestic tourist trails, have been key to hotel performance recovery even with restrictions on international travel. With domestic demand as the main driver, those beach destinations were on full display around the New Year’s holiday.

50% and better

For the week ending with 2 January, all beach destinations in the region posted occupancy levels higher than 50%. During the following week, Santa Marta posted a 73.7% occupancy level, the highest weekly occupancy in the market since March.

For some markets, higher occupancy levels have increased hotelier pricing confidence. During the month of December, for instance, three vacation destinations posted an average daily rate (ADR) above US$100. Costa Rica Regional, corresponding mainly to the Guanacaste area, showed the highest absolute ADR (US$248) for that month followed closely by Buzios in Brazil (US$219) and Cartagena in Colombia (US$109).

Rio occupancy trends

Originally scheduled for 12-17 February 2021, Rio de Janeiro's carnival parade was postponed to next year (25 February 25 – 2 March 2022). However, the market has seen a steady and significant improvement in occupancy, especially during weekends. That weekend trend is like many regions around the world as leisure demand remains the primary driver of business. For the week ending 2 January, for example, Rio de Janeiro saw occupancy of 53.7% during the weekend, while weekdays produced a 49.3% average occupancy level.

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