Australian interest in luxury travel to Latin America is surging, fuelled by major improvements in air connectivity and a reshaped post-pandemic travel industry.
In a recent conversation with LATTE, Contours Travel Senior Consultant and Business Development Manager Hanna Shilo attributed the company’s recent growth spike to several converging factors.
“Contours has been booming since the pandemic, and I think it’s because of a few factors. I think it’s because some of the competitors from pre-Covid have gone, decided not to continue,” she explained.
This recalibration coincides with vastly improved air links between Australia and South America, which are helping to overcome the long-standing perception that the region is too far away. “The connectivity from Australia to South America is fantastic,” Shilo said, highlighting direct or one-stop access to Santiago, Lima, Buenos Aires and Rio. “You can literally get from Sydney or Melbourne to any of the major cities on the same day.”
The addition of new intra-South America routes is further enhancing the continent’s accessibility for Australians. A standout example is LATAM’s direct Santiago–Cusco service. “One of the things that LATAM did was they put on a direct route, Santiago to Cusco, which is a fantastic thing,” she pointed out. “You bypass Lima.”
The route is particularly significant for travellers heading straight to Peru’s Sacred Valley or Machu Picchu, reducing travel time and simplifying logistics. And while many will still head to Lima after Cusco anyway, the service adds a new element of flexibility.
Despite these improvements, many Australians still underestimate how manageable the journey is. Also challenging is the lack of awareness of the sheer size of the continent once travellers arrive. “You can’t just skip across and back,” Shilo stressed. “You have to plan how you’re going to go about it.”
Education is therefore key for Contours to challenge these misconceptions, with the company placing training high on its list of priorities. “We emphasise a lot on training the agents… so they’re not afraid of selling these products or destinations,” she said.
