Wednesday, 27 February 2013

[pb_top] WTM Latin America focuses on social media to secure the legacy of the world’s biggest sporting events

WTM  Latin America, which will be held for the first time in São Paulo, Brazil from 23 to 25 April 2013, will look at how organisations can use social media to ensure that the interest generated by the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro boosts the region’s tourism on a lasting basis.

Consumers in the region already enjoy the highest levels of engagement with social networks anywhere in the world, according to recent research. Market researchers comScore found that  Latin America is home to five of the most engaged social networking markets worldwide: internet users in Argentina averaged 10.7 hours on social networking sites in December 2011, followed by Chile (9.5 hours per visitor), Peru (8.7 hours), Colombia (7.6 hours) and Mexico (7.1 hours). The region’s online population also grew faster than any other global region in 2011, up by 16% to 129.3 million visitors. 

The main session on the WTM  Latin America programme looks at how events such as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the UEFA European Championships 2012 in Poland and Ukraine and the London 2012 Olympics have given boosts to the local tourism sectors.
In another social media session on the WTM Latin America programme, delegates will learn how travel businesses can use the latest brand-focused features of Facebook to promote their businesses, now that the network has overtaken Orkut as the prime social network in Brazil.

WTM Latin America Exhibition Director Lawrence Reinisch says, “The world’s eyes will be on Latin America over the next four years. It is imperative that tourism bodies and travel companies take this opportunity to use social media to further increase qualified visitor numbers in a region which is already becoming one of the fastest-growing destinations around the world, and sees responsible travel & tourism as a key instrument for sustainable economic development.”

The social media programme is curated by Mark Frary, one of the organisers of the successful WTM Social Travel Market conference at WTM London, which returns in November for its second outing.

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