Tourism Organizations – South America

Tourism Organizations – South America

This page lists tourism organizations in South America. The purpose of this page is to show different types of organizations, structures and events that South American destinations establish to manage and promote themselves.

This is not an exhaustive list of tourism organizations, rather a sample list providing an overview of tourism governance structures in South America.

SOUTH AMERICA

Qhapaq Ñan
The Qhapaq Ñan is an Andean road system built by the Incas over several centuries, creating a vast network connecting hundreds of remarkable sites located in modern-day Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. While there is no single entity to manage and promote the Qhapaq Ñan in its totality, due to its enormous extension covering more than 30,000 km, on the national level different initiatives to manage and promote sites pertaining to this Andean road system do exist and are essentially marketed as more manageable segments of a wider tourism route. The best-known portion of the road system is the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, in the region of Cusco in Peru. However, the entire Andean road system, connecting snow-capped peaks, rainforests and deserts, has been declared World Heritage under UNESCO and represents a unique engineering achievement dating back to pre-Columbian times.
UNESCO: Unesco.org – Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System
Qhapaq Ñan in Ecuador: ecuador.travel – Crossing the Qhapaq Ñan
Inca Trail in Peru: Peru.travel – Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Latin American Travel Association
The Latin American Travel Association (LATA) is a membership association that aims to promote Latin America as a tourist destination and stimulate growth of travel to the region. The organization is based in London and represents the authoritative voice in the UK for Latin America Travel and Tourism. Among the members, there are both companies from Latin America as well as the United Kingdom, including tour operators, incoming agencies, airlines, marketing representations, hotels and media companies. As an annual highlight, LATA organizes Experience Latin America (ELA), a B2B event connecting Latin American providers with UK buyers – the most important trade event specialized in Latin America in the European source market.
LATA: lata.travel
ELA: experiencelatinamerica.travel

LATA: Experience Latin America

ARGENTINA

Ministerio de Turismo de Argentina
National Tourism Authority in charge of the international promotion of Argentina.
Public: argentina.travel
Institutional: turismo.gov.ar

AHTRA
National Hotel Association of Argentina
Institutional: ahtra.com

Bodegas de Argentina
Bodegas de Argentina (Wine Cellars of Argentina) is the national chamber for wine tourism with offices in Mendoza, Argentina, essentially functioning as a product club. It is organized by institutional and operational committees covering all relevant aspects such as enology, viticulture, training, marketing, finances, sustainability, etc.
Public: caminosdelvino.org.ar
Institutional: bodegasdeargentina.org

BOLIVIA

OGD Santa Cruz
A Destination Management Organization (DMO) of a public-private character to develop and promote tourism in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. 
Public: destinosantacruz.com
Institutional: destinosantacruz.com/empresa.php

Red TUSOCO
Community-Based Tourism Network and Bolivian non-profit association that brings together indigenous community organizations to develop tourism as an economic alternative and strengthen the cultural identity.
Public: tusoco.com
Institutional: tusoco.com/about-us-tn

BRAZIL

Embratur
Embratur is a federal state-owned agency dedicated to the promotion and marketing of Brazil as a tourism destination abroad, as well as supporting the trade of services and products. The agency reports to the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism.
Public: visitbrasil.com
Institutional: embratur.gov.br

Visit Brazil: Capital of Incredible Experiences

ACTO
The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), with offices in Brasilia, is an international organization aimed at the promotion of sustainable development of the Amazon Basin. The constituting member states are: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. Tourism is one of the themes selected as a means of regional cooperation.
Institutional: otca-oficial.info – Tourism

CHILE

SERNATUR
The National Tourism Service of Chile, SERNATUR – Servicio Nacional de Turismo, is a governmental organization focused on the promotion and strengthening of tourism in Chile.
Public: chile.travel
Institutional: sernatur.cl

CONSETUR
The Superior Tourism Council is a committee established by the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism in the year 1993. It unites the main actors of the private sector, such as hotels, restaurants, airlines, event organizers and others; in order to foster the development of the Chilean tourism industry based on the principles of quality, innovation and professionalism.
Institutional: consetur.cl/quienes-somos

Mesa de Turismo de Valdivia
The Valdivia Tourism Roundtable has the purpose of informing about, coordinating and managing activities geared towards increasing the competitiveness of the tourism destination Valdivia, in the spirit of a public-private partnership. The roundtable therefore coordinates among a number of public and private institutions in Valdivia, capital of Los Ríos Region and also capital of Valdivia Province in Southern Chile; and sustains three working commissions: promotion, tourism information system and quality of services and products.
Institutional: gestionturistica.cl – Mesa de Turismo de Valdivia

COLOMBIA

ProColombia
Institution in charge of the commercial promotion of non-traditional exports, international tourism and foreign investment in Colombia
Public: colombia.travel
Institutional: procolombia.co

Skift: ProColombia’s VP of Tourism Julian Guerrero

ANATO
The Colombian Association of Travel Agencies and Tourism represents the interests of travel agencies and tour operators in Colombia, as well as the general interest of the tourism sector. It has a presence all over the Colombian territory, with nine sub-chapters on the regional level. It is also the organizer of Vitrina Turística ANATO, Colombia´s most important tourism fair held annually.
Institutional: anato.org
Vitrina Turística: vitrinaturistica.anato.org

SITUR Magdalena
SITUR Magdalena is a comprehensive tourism information system that gathers data and information about this region in Colombia, including the effect of tourism on employment, evolution of national and international tourist arrivals, hotel occupation rates and a profile of tourism services, as well as travel preferences and spending patterns of visitors coming to this Caribbean region of the country. Similarly, this type of digital platform for gathering and presenting tourism intelligence also exists in other departments of Colombia and in the case of Magdalena department, it represents a joint effort of the Ministry, FONTUR, the hotel association Cotelco and the University of Magdalena, located in Santa Marta.
Institutional: siturmagdalena.com

ECUADOR

Ministerio de Turismo de Ecuador
National Tourism Authority in charge of the international promotion of Ecuador.
Public: ecuador.travel
Institutional: turismo.gob.ec

Feel Again in Ecuador: Yukiko from Germany

Fundación Municipal Turismo Cuenca
Cuenca, capital of Azuay province, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its Destination Management Organization (DMO) operates as a public-private alliance, placing a strong focus on sustainable destination management by becoming certified under the international TourCert CSR label.
Public: www.cuencaecuador.com.ec
Institutional: cuencaecuador.com.ec/#institucion

TourCert: Destination Cuenca

OPTUR
OPTUR is the National Association of Receptive Tour Operators in Ecuador, dedicated to promoting tourism to Ecuador based on high ethical standards and visitor-oriented principles such as professionalism, quality, safety and continuous training. The Tour Operator Association, with offices in Quito, coordinates with all other relevant organisations from the tourism sector with the goal of contributing to an integral tourism development in Ecuador, in harmony with the environment.
Institutional: optur.org

PERU

PromPerú
PromPerú is a dependency of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism. It is a specialized technical agency, responsible for the promotion of Peru in exports, tourism, and image.
Public: peru.travel
Institutional: promperu.gob.pe

Programa Nacional de Turismo Rural Comunitario – Perú
Public: turismoruralcomunitario.com.pe

Tourism Council of Lambayeque
The Tourism Council of Lambayeque is the highest coordination and articulation instance in Lambayeque, with active participation of the public and private sector of the region Lambayeque, located in Northern Peru; in charge of planning tourism on the regional level, as well as implementation by means of specialized work committees.
Institutional: regionlambayeque.gob.pe

Dircetur Puno
As it is the case for every region in Peru, the official entity for managing tourism in Puno is Dircetur, the Regional Authority for Foreign Commerce and Tourism. To ensure that tourism policies and development on the national and regional level are in alignment, it coordinates with MINCETUR, Peru´s Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism.
Institutional: dirceturpuno.gob.pe

OGD Cusco
Cusco DMO (Destination Management Organization) focuses on the sustainable development of the destination Cuzco, articulating efforts among the public and private sector in this regard. It has received support from Swiss development cooperation to foster the competitiveness of Cuzco, one of the most important tourism regions in Peru.
Institutional: ogdturcusco.org

URUGUAY

Ministerio de Turismo de Uruguay
The Tourism Ministry of Uruguay has the mission to design, promote, implement, control and evaluate the national policies with regard to the tourism sector.
Public: turismo.gub.uy
Institutional: mintur.gub.uy

Destino Punta del Este
A tourism cluster in Uruguay focused on the promotion of Punta del Este as a beach destination, investment opportunity and place for second homes (residential tourism), structured as a public-private Destination Management Organization.
Public: destinopuntadeleste.org
Institutional: destinopuntadeleste.org/quienes-somos

VENEZUELA

MINTUR
The Venezuelan Ministry of Tourism (Ministerio del Poder Popular para el Turismo) has the mission to facilitate tourism development by means of public and private investment and to foster a tourism culture as well as the active involvement of stakeholders that are part of the national tourism system. Its vision is to position the Venezuelan tourism product on the national and international level, as a strategic tool for the development of the country and as a fundament for the wellbeing of the population in general.
Public: facebook.com/minturven

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