Air Transport Industry to Network in the Heart of the Americas

Routes has just announced the launch of its 3rd Routes Americas, which will be held on 14th-16th February 2010 in Lima, Peru. Hosted by Lima Airport Partners (LAP), the event will attract more than 300 from the air transport industry to the region.

This will be the very first time an airline/airport networking event has arrived at the heart of the Americas. Sallyanne Cliff, Routes Americas’ Event Leader comments: “Peru’s central location within the region makes it an ideal destination for the third Routes Americas. Our event is the only network planning event that brings together the North, South and Central America markets, and Lima is easily accessible for all of them.”

Peru is no longer seen as a tourist destination only, but is now recognised as an emerging market with a lot of business potential. It has the highest growth in GDP in the region and is expected to expand by 1.5% this year and 5.8% in 2010 according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF predicts that Peru will grow the most among Latin America’s top economies over the next two years. The country is also launching a new image branding worldwide for tourism in 2010 – as stated by the Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry: The new branding and image “will be used to promote Peru for tourism and investors worldwide.”

“Having the honour of hosting Routes Americas in 2010 gives us the opportunity to demonstrate not only what Peru can offer as a destination, and the advantages that Lima has as a South American hub, but also our commitment towards route development in our region,” commented Jaime Daly, LAP’s CEO. “Routes Americas 2010 will prove that doing business in this region is good business, despite the crisis, and will give us airports the chance to attract airlines that have traditionally looked towards the East.”

Once again the event will offer all attending delegates two full days of focused airline/airport/tourism authority meetings. A Sunday conference will allow the discussion of industry topics relevant to the region, and for the second time, the regional heat of the acclaimed Routes Airport Marketing Awards will take place at the gala dinner of the event.