Transformative tourism takes center stage at WTM Latin America

"An object is just an object until it gains an emotional meaning," said psychoanalyst Patrícia Braz. With this reflection, she began a lecture that connected the audience with the central theme of WTM Latin America 2025: “Where Tech Meets Touch.” Amid so many debates about artificial intelligence, automation, and data, Patrícia brought an essential perspective: no technology, no matter how advanced, is capable of replicating the complexity of the human subjective experience.

In her speech, she highlighted that choices related to tourism, such as a trip or accommodation, go far beyond rational attributes. “When I talk about comfort, I am talking about the memory of my childhood home, family gatherings, the smell, the silent welcome. This is not something you learn from a textbook, it is sensorial,” she explained. According to the psychoanalyst, our decisions are driven by projections, desires and affections — a deep and unique symbolic field, where true bonds are formed.

Thus, even if technology optimizes processes, what really moves consumers is the desire for connection — and only humans can provide that. “There is no data that can tabulate how people feel subjectively,” he stated. On the technology side, Dai Dunka, Head of Travel & Loyalty at Google, reinforced an increasing investment in travel tools to connect with consumers who ask increasingly complex questions.

She noted that the platform records 130 million monthly searches in Brazil about travel alone, 53% of which are generic searches. “This means that there is no brand attached; consumers are exploring the possibilities,” she warns, highlighting the increase in searches for family trips and land-based itineraries. In terms of days, Dai emphasized that exploratory searches - when people are trying to understand something about the trip in order to make a purchase decision - occur more on Sundays, while commercial searches - active searches for packages, tickets and accommodations - are divided between Monday and Friday.

In the panel entitled Simplifying Artificial Intelligence, experts highlighted the importance of prioritizing ethics, governance, and the human perspective. For Paulo Henrique Assis Feitosa, a PhD professor at USP, visiting researcher at IPEA, and specialist in tourism economics, innovation, and development, the responsible use of AI begins with data collection aligned with the LGPD and involves algorithmic decisions supervised by people to avoid biases and stereotypes. He emphasized that the technology is here to stay, but it must be used with awareness and good practices.

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Marina Figueiredo, executive director of Braztoa, and Rayane Ruas, CEO of SPRINT Dados, presented Olhar Braztoa, a collection of data collected from associated operators that indicate trends and business opportunities. Among the main trends identified are the search for total customization, tourism for sporting events, tourism for relaxation, tourism to experience natural phenomena, tourism focused on gastronomy, among others.

“Destinations with a strong culinary identity have gained prominence since gastronomy is no longer seen as something complementary, but as a motivator and central axis on which the entire trip is built. The same has been happening with sporting events: travelers create their entire itinerary around the competition’s agenda,” explained Marina.

Other emerging opportunities mapped by Braztoa include tourism to attend music festivals and concerts, tourism motivated by films, series and soap operas, ancestral and grassroots tourism, night tourism, community-based tourism and tourism combined with courses and learning. The study presented during WTM Latin America also highlighted factors that should guide travelers' choices: lesser-known and explored destinations, unusual and new destinations, greater concern about socio-environmental impacts and the demand for technology to optimize travel planning and experience.

The debate on the future of corporate travel was another highlight of the second day of WTM Latin America, with optimistic forecasts and strategic challenges. According to the Brazilian Association of Corporate Travel Agencies (Abracorp), the sector generated R$124 billion in revenue in 2023 and is expected to reach R$130 billion in 2025, with growth of 5%. For Alexandre Palmeira, director of CW Tour and ABAV SP Advisor, the changes have been rapid and require attention to the impact of technology and automation. He reinforced that bleisure — a combination of work and leisure — is here to stay, reflecting new demands from travelers.

Among the trends highlighted are the appreciation of comfort in accommodation, such as a good bed, shower and even a gym, and the possibility of extending stays for weekends or family trips. At the same time, companies face the challenge of balancing costs and budget control, especially with the gradual return to the in-person model. Travel management, more than ever, needs to be strategic and people-centered.

Two panels at the Transformation theater addressed the important topic of responsible tourism. Led by Tânia Neres, from Embratur, “How to connect audiences for the practice of responsible tourism”, it brought together the experiences and best practices of shellfish gatherer Elizângela Lopes, Colombian Jeremy Ávila and researcher Elisa Spampinato. “We, at Embratur, want a better Brazil first for Brazilians, to also offer a better Brazil to tourists”, stated Tânia and invited the participants to debate. Elizângela Lopes reinforced the point. “Responsible tourism is the one in which we value the people, nature and local culture first”.

“The most important thing is to respect the place occupied by the people who already live there, to recognize as tourists that we are not the center of the world, and we have to respect the place and the people we visit and also recognize the limits of basic resources such as water, food and energy,” explained Elisa Spampinato.

Colombian Jeremy Ávila completed the thought by stating: “For responsible tourism, we need to be aware of where we are going and who we are going to meet, respecting the rules of the community we are going to visit and the places we are going to visit.”

Afterwards, visitors to the fair were able to watch the panel “How to transform impact monitoring into a sales strategy in responsible tourism”, moderated by Solange Barbosa, CEO of Rota da Liberdade. “Nowadays, everyone says they are doing responsible tourism, but we know that there is a lot of greenwashing”, said Solange, adding that within the Muda collective, they are concerned about being truthful and responsible with what they are creating regarding ESG”.

Guest Mariana Madureira, from Raízes, highlighted the measurement work. “We must ask ourselves what we really want to measure, because this is a lot of work and the cost is sometimes higher than the project itself. We have to be more assertive in what we measure, because we don’t have the resources to do everything and we need to make clear the difference between measuring results and measuring impact, which provide us with different information.”

Rudã Fernandes, CEO and founder of Biofábrica de corais, shared his successful experience with the communication and promotion of the project. “The ease with which we are featured and have space in the media is the result of a series of initiatives. We have reliable data to share, we curate an image bank to illustrate what we want to communicate, in addition to the topic engaging and drawing the public’s attention, and we have technology, as we developed and obtained the first patent for a device to control corals in the biofactory.”

Source: WTM Latin America.