Viajar y Disfrutar - A Special Report on the Hispanic Travel Industry
	Travel among U.S. Hispanics for the longest time was defined by 'VFR' activity, to use industry parlance. While visiting friends and relatives remains a big part of the Latino travel segment, the emergence of the Hispanic business traveler has some companies changing their tune when it comes to their advertising messages.
The travel industry has grand opportunities for growth by approaching Hispanics with the right messages. Yet some head-scratching may be seen among those seeking long-term trends about the potential growth explosion in the travel sector from the nation's Spanish-speaking population. For one, airlines are just getting started with pitching Latinos on business travel. Among the hotels earmarking the most dollars for Hispanic media are budget lodging brands - and not those most-associated with a resort destination. At the same time, outreach through traditional advertising targeting Latino consumers has been scant from cruise lines. Activity from car rental companies remains mixed. Travel agencies - both online and in the brick-and-mortar form - are extremely limited in their Hispanic outreach. Tour companies offering anything in Spanish have focused their efforts almost entirely on Spaniards and Latin American travelers. The Travel Industry Association's most recent study on the Latino traveler was conducted in 2003. According to the group, a follow-up report was never commenced because of "a funding issue," the 2003 study was sponsored, TIA spokesperson Cathy Keefe says. Today, monitoring the Hispanic traveler's buying habits would be a major endeavor, requiring lots of research. "You can't track Hispanic travel activity unless you go directly to the source," says Elsa Cristobal, who operates a Miami-based travel agency. That being said, Cristobal has a fairly good gauge of what many of her Latino customers are booking. "We see a big growth trend with the high-affluent Hispanic," she notes. "With this group, Europe is the No. 1 destination of choice." Meanwhile, Costa Rica has "fizzled out," with many taking a "been there, done that" mentality to the Central American nation's rich natural attractions, Cristobal says. External Source - For the complete article click here Source - Hispanic Market Weekly