The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched the “Future Tourism Program” aimed at addressing the technological transformation of tourist destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as a vital tool for the recovery and competitiveness of tourism in the region.
With financing from the General Cooperation Fund of Spain, the IDB said the Future Tourism Programme opens a regional call, inviting tourist destinations to benefit from a diagnosis of their level of technological maturity, to develop a detailed action plan, and pre-investment agreement with public and private sector stakeholders.
Data released by the World Travel and Tourism Council shows that Latin America and the Caribbean are regions where the tourism sector has had the most significant expansion, generating 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and nine percent of employment in 2019.
But the IDB said the crisis generated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) had affected the sector notably, producing a 50 percent contraction of regional tourism GDP in 2020.
“In this context, the revitalization of regional tourism is articulated as an essential step towards the recovery, and adoption of new technologies as the necessary engine of this process. The Sustainable Development Goals consider new technologies as a basic element towards inclusion, sustainability, competitiveness, and economic development.”
The Washington-based financial institution said that from the proposals received until March 30, this year, it will select ten destinations that meet several requirements and that all of its 26 member countries, including those in the Caribbean, namely, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad, and Tobago are being invited to submit proposals.
The criteria would also include the type of eligible destinations considering consolidated destinations not belonging to more than two municipalities, excluding national or regional circuits. The IDB said applicant destinations might be urban, coastal, or natural.
“This initiative is aligned with the IDB’s Vision 2025 – Reinvesting in the Americas: A Decade of Opportunities to achieve sustainable recovery and inclusive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean,” it added.
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