Guatemala has officially launched the countdown to Central America Travel Market (CATM) Guatemala 2026, the region’s leading platform for the promotion and commercialization of Central America’s tourism offering. The event will bring together international buyers, specialized media, government authorities, and tourism industry leaders to strengthen Central America’s positioning in key international source markets.
The 2026 edition carries special significance as it returns to Guatemala, the host of the inaugural CATM in 2004. Since then, regional tourism has undergone remarkable growth. At the time of the first edition, Central America welcomed just over 5.5 million international visitors. Today, Central America and the Dominican Republic receive more than 30.6 million visitors annually, reflecting the sector’s sustained expansion and the region’s collective efforts to establish itself as an increasingly competitive global tourism destination.
“We are preparing a true celebration so that those who already know Guatemala will fall in love with our country all over again, while first-time visitors discover the extraordinary cultural and natural wealth we have to offer. We firmly believe that multi-destination tourism is the way to strengthen Central America, because our countries do not compete with one another—they complement each other. When Guatemala succeeds, our neighbors succeed as well, and when the region grows, we all grow together,” said Harris Whitbeck, Guatemala’s Minister of Tourism.
During the launch event, Boris Iraheta, Secretary General of the Central America Tourism Promotion Agency (CATA), emphasized that the region’s tourism growth has been driven by a shared vision of integration that positions Central America as a destination capable of offering multiple experiences within a single journey, thereby strengthening its presence in international markets. “More than twenty years ago, Guatemala marked the starting point of a regional vision. Today, it once again becomes the meeting place where Central America presents itself to the world with greater experience, stronger competitiveness, and a more robust tourism offering than ever before,” he said. The most recent editions, held in El Salvador (2024) and Honduras (2025), showcased the region’s tourism products to representatives from more than 40 countries, expanding business opportunities and reinforcing Central America’s presence in priority markets across Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
Beyond its business appointments, CATM offers a comprehensive destination experience through pre- and post-event familiarization tours, allowing international buyers and specialized journalists to experience firsthand the tourism assets of the host country while also exploring the diverse attractions of Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. These experiences further reinforce Central America’s positioning as a premier multi-destination region.
As part of the program, the 2026 edition will once again feature the Tourism Innovation Conference, a forum dedicated to sharing global trends, market intelligence, digital transformation, and innovation in tourism development. The conference underscores the region’s commitment to building a more competitive tourism industry that is well prepared to respond to the evolving dynamics of the international marketplace.
Over the course of three days, Central America Travel Market Guatemala 2026 will bring together tourism companies, international buyers, investors, media representatives, and industry leaders, reinforcing its position as the region’s premier business platform for fostering strategic partnerships, generating new commercial opportunities, and advancing the joint promotion of Central America as one of the world’s most compelling multi-destination tourism regions.
Source: TOURISM AND SOCIETY THINK TANK