Guatemala Travel and Tourism Industry

Guatemala’s travel and tourism sector has been severely damaged since the pandemic.  La Aurora – Guatemala’s International Airport - reopened in September 2020 for commercial passenger flights. Air connectivity is increasing at a slow but steady pace after dropping from 44 to 5 flights a day.

Despite all challenges, U.S. flight carriers are increasing their daily flights to respond to the demand of Guatemalans travelling to the U.S., which suffered a dramatic drop of 60% in the number of flights at the end of 2020 compared to 2019, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) data.

Renewed interest in travelling to the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that some American airlines have recently increased the number of direct flights from Guatemala to the United States.  Such is the case of American Airlines, which now operates six daily flights to Miami and Dallas and two weekly flights to Chicago – an increase of four weekly flights.  Also, currently United Airlines has direct flights to Newark, Dulles, Los Angeles, and Houston – the Newark and Los Angeles flights added to the schedule after the airport reopened in September 2020.   And Delta Airlines flies daily to Atlanta and Los Angeles.

In addition, in April 2021, two additional U.S. airlines, Frontier Airlines and JetBlue, recently began service to Guatemala. Frontier Airlines is currently flying three times a week to Miami while JetBlue is flying to New York JFK on a daily basis. 
 
Although this sector still faces challenges ahead, the increased number of flights is a signed of both increased interest and demand which could provide opportunities for U.S. tourism destinations.  

For more information, please contact Karla Salas at karla.salas@trade.gov