Report: Hispanic Market Growth Continues for Travel Industry

Latin business traveler, “high-affluent" Hispanics now in marketers' sights
Southwest Airlines leads industry in media buys
According to a special report on the travel industry published this week by Hispanic Market Weekly, the leading authority on U.S. Hispanic marketing and media, marketers continue to aggressively pursue the fast-growing Latino consumer while now developing plans to reach an emerging subgroup — the business and affluent Latino leisure traveler.
The report shows airlines leading the travel industry in spending. Through the first three quarters of 2007, the top 10 airlines invested just over $19 million in Spanish-language advertising, with the majority ($12.5 million) going to Spanish-language network television. The top investor over the same period was Southwest Airlines at $11.8 million, as tracked by Nielson Monitor-Plus.
The data, as well as insiders, seem to agree that Hispanic travel is poised for dramatic growth. “What the industry seems most keyed on is the fact that Latino entrepreneurs and those who can afford to take luxury vacations are now gaining in importance, as the 'visiting friends and relatives' crowd ponders whether or not to travel in the midst of a sluggish U.S. economy," says Adam Jacobson, Associate Editor and the report's author.
The report also points to the fact that many Latinos use online travel sites such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity although they do not have Spanish-language options — a sign that the popular way in which non-Latinos book flights could benefit from a great leap into the U.S. Hispanic market.
The entire Special Report can be found at: tcaton@jtscom.com
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