UNWTO further strengthens its cooperation with the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing together leaders from the public and private sectors to promote investments in the tourism sector.
In the context of the meeting of its 68th Regional Commission for the Americas in Quito (Ecuador), UNWTO organized the Seminar on Sustainable Investments to explore the main challenges and opportunities in the region.
Investment in tourism: a key priority
The latest UNWTO data shows that tourism in the Americas is recovering at a steady pace, in the first quarter of this year, international arrivals reached 86% of 2019 levels. In addition, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the tourism sector, which had experienced a decline, is now showing signs of revitalization:
Registered investment projects increased by 185% between 2022 and 2021, with a total value of $192.6 billion. This trend reflects investors’ growing confidence in the region’s potential.
In addition, in 2021, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased to reach 134 billion dollars – a year-on-year increase of 56% – recovering a substantial part of what was lost in 2020.
To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Americas, it is of paramount importance to attract investments that actively support their achievement. Among other actions, it is crucial to establish a strong multilateral regulatory framework that encourages sustainable investments.
Quito seminar provides high-level platform
At the Seminar on Sustainable Investments: A Strategy towards Competitiveness, tourism ministers, traditional and non-traditional investors, multilateral funds, regional economic communities, tourism technology startups and the media shared their good practices and knowledge on this topic. As a sign of high-level political support for UNWTO’s work in this area, the Seminar was attended by the Ministers of Tourism of Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and the Deputy Minister of the Dominican Republic. The main objectives of the event focused on:
-Foster strategic frameworks that facilitate entrepreneurship in the region, including measures to safeguard, attract and promote tourism investment projects in order to accelerate economic recovery and foster resilience.
-Boost cooperation on sustainable investment frameworks to promote tourism investments and job creation, including through the development of incentives focused on innovative financing instruments.
-Promote regional cooperation to rationalize investment mechanisms in sustainable tourism, through economic recovery and diversification measures with multiplier effects.
High-level representatives of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), fid Intelligence of the Financial Times, IDB – Inter-American Development Bank and, on behalf of investors and the private sector, Hotel Jama Campay, WAYRA (Telefónica), IMPAQTO, UnTours, Maraey, Metropolitan Touring, GHL Hotels and the Pan American Confederation of Hotel Schools, contributed to the discussions. Gastronomy and Tourism, among others.
UNWTO and CAF
In January 2023, UNWTO and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) announced a new partnership to promote and retain investment in tourism throughout the Latin American and Caribbean region. In Quito:
-UNWTO and CAF published the first edition of the “Tourism and Business” guides. Under the title “Invest in Ecuador”, the first issue aims to attract foreign direct investment to the tourism sector of this country, showing the favorable conditions existing in its territory and the solid economic recovery it has shown after the pandemic, with a growth of 2.9% in 2022, to which is added an increase of 21.7% in FDI between 2021 and 2022.
-The agreement between UNWTO and CAF provides for the development of tourism investment guides for five other countries: Barbados, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama and Uruguay.
Source: UNWTO.
