AEROPUERTO INTERNACIONAL MONSEÑOR OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO
12
Produced in El Salvador by:
On behalf of:
E V E R Y N E W R O U T E , E V E R Y W E E K
S U B S C R I B E T O O U R F R E E W E E K L Y N E W S L E T T E R , V I S I T W W W . A N N A . A E R O
KICKS OFF THE 7TH ROUTES AMERICAS
ALTA
Routes Strategy Summit
AEROPUERTO INTERNACIONAL MONSEÑOR OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO
The ALTA
Routes
Americas Strategy
Summit, sponsored by
the New Quito
International Airport,
helped launch the formal
part of the event on
Sunday afternoon, at the
Sheraton Presidente
Hotel in San Salvador.
After a number of
keynote addresses from
José Napoleón Duarte
Durán, El Salvador
Minister of Tourism;
Alberto Arene, President,
CEPA; Eduardo Iglesias,
Executive Director, ALTA;
and Estuardo Ortiz,
Executive VP & Chief
Revenue Officer, Avianca,
the afternoon proceeded
with four panel sessions
as well as a presentation
from the New Quito
International Airport, and
a view of the Caribbean
market from Beverly
Nicholson-Doty,
Chairperson, Caribbean
Tourism Organisation
(CTO) and US Virgin
Islands (USVI)
Commissioner of Tourism.
AFTER STANDING FOR
the national anthem
of El Salvador, José Napoleón Duarte Durán,
El Salvador’s Minister of Tourism welcomed
delegates to the 7th Routes Americas. This is the
first time that the country has hosted such an
event and the Minister was proud of the fact that
it would help put El Salvador on the map, and
showcase the country to a wider international
audience. Hosting Routes Americas was a vote of
confidence for the country he said. It reflected the
path that the government had taken in prioritising
tourism and investment. As an example he
cited that attracting service from Iberia (in 2010)
had resulted in a 72% increase in tourists from
Europe. As one of Avianca’s main hubs, their
traffic had grown in each of the last four years.
More than 44% of tourist arrivals now come by
air, but the airport also plans to increase transfer
traffic from 1.5 million passengers per annum
to 3.75 million by 2017. The aim is to be not just
a strategic country for airlines but that aviation
should be a benefit for the country as a whole.
THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS
by Eduardo
Iglesias, Executive Director, ALTA, focused on
the recent growth in traffic and connectivity in
the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region.
Economic growth was forecast to be above 5%
in the near future, while passenger numbers in
the region had grown from 89 million in 2002 to
206 million in 2013. ALTA members alone had
seen passenger numbers grow by 40% in the
last five years from 116 million in 2008 to 161
million in 2013. The main growth drivers had
been a business friendly environment and strong
domestic traffic growth, achieved by converting
many bus passengers to air travel. During the
last year Bolivia (+25%), and Colombia (+16%) had
seen the fastest growth. In terms of international
traffic, Mexico’s had grown by 2.5 million
passengers and Colombia by 1.1 million. In the
last three years the number of city-pairs between
LAC and the rest of the world had grown from 687
to 953. Traffic is forecast to grow by an average
of 6.9% for the next 20 years, resulting in the
addition of 525 million new passengers. Low-cost
carriers, in particular in Brazil and Mexico, had
significantly grown the market in recent years.
