Mexico Invest $4 Billion in Travel Industry

From January to September 2008, the amount of private money invested in tourism in Mexico totaled $4.3 billion, a 29.47 percent increase compared to the previous quarter.

Since 2006, the tourism sector benefited from $7.8 billion in private investment, representing 39 percent of the six-year goal of $20 billion. In agreement with the Secretariat’s National Projects Guidelines, 58.5 percent of these investments came from national capitals, while 41.5 percent were of foreign origin.

Despite the global economic slowdown and the higher costs of fuel this year, Mexico received a record amount of private investment in tourism.

During the first nine months of the present year, private investment in tourism in Mexico reached the record amount of $4.3 billion, which represents a 29.4 percent increase compared to the previous semester, the Mexican Secretary of Tourism Rodolfo Elizondo Torres announced.

The Secretary underlined that under mandate of president Felipe Calderon (who entered July 2006), the amount of investment received by the tourism sector total $7.8 billion, which is already 39 percent of the six-year goal established at $20 billion.

In agreement with the secretariat of tourism (SECTUR) National Projects Guidelines, 58.5 percent of these investments came from national capitals, while the remaining 41.5 percent originated from foreign capitals, especially from Spain and the United States.

Secretary Elizondo also noted that the states benefiting the most from private investments in tourism over the period examined were Quintana Roo, Nayarit, Sonora, Sinaloa and Guerrero. Moreover, the states of Campeche, Tamaulipas, Baja California and Chiapas also reported an important presence of investors.

The project of the federal government, Elizondo Torres insisted, goes further than the consolidation of existing destinations, as it aims to create new alternatives across Mexico. The best example of this is the new resort center of Escuinapa, which is planned to become a large-scale tourism hub on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, and which will guarantee a sustained growth of the private investment in tourism for Mexico.

In the year 2007, a total of $3.4 billion in private funds was invested in tourism. When added to this third quarter results of $4.3 billion, sums up to $7.8 billion.