The Diplomat
UN Tourism further advanced its partnership with the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) with the launch last week of new guidelines promoting tourism investments in Brazil and Panama.
Within the framework of the 2025 FITUR international tourism trade fair, the two organizations jointly hosted a special Investments Breakfast, bringing together public and private sector leaders to explore opportunities and challenges surrounding driving investments into the sector across the region. The event highlighted the massive investment potential of the region, noting:
- Between 2019 and 2023, Latin America and the Caribbean attracted 213 greenfield foreign direct investment projects in tourism
- These projects generated more than US$20 billion in capital and more than 73,000 jobs
UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The Americas, as a whole, is one of the regions with the best recovery, registering a 7% increase in international arrivals in the last year. This progress consolidates the region as a dynamic destination in constant recovery, with a high probability of closing the year with higher values than in 2019. However, this progress requires the continued support of strategic investments. UN Tourism and CAF are working together to grow and direct investments in the sector, to boost resilience and promote sustainable growth.”
Investment Guidelines: Brazil and Panama editions launched
Further advancing the strategic collaboration between UN Tourism and CAF, investment guidelines focused on Brazil and Panama were presented at the event. The guidelines, part of UN Tourism’s growing portfolio of “Tourism Doing Business” publications, outline the investment potential of destinations, making clear opportunities and challenges and charting key numbers and trends. Key takeaways of the latest additions to the series include:
- Inward FDI flows in Brazil amounted to USD 65,897 million in 2023, which represented a decrease of 10.2% compared to 2022, and a growth of 0.8% compared to 2019.
- According to the OECD, Brazil was the second largest destination of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2023, surpassed only by the United States
- In the first half of 2024, Panama attracted USD 1.61 billion in FDI, an increase of 23% over the same period in 2023, standing out in the region as a reliable destination for foreign investment in all sectors.
- Panama consolidated its position as the country in Central America with the second-highest number of greenfield FDI project announcements in tourism between 2018 and 2023. In this period, the country registered 6 tourism projects, representing 20.1% of the region’s announcements, with a total investment of USD 2,652 million and the creation of more than 13,800 jobs.
UN Tourism Executive Director Natalia Bayona adds: “The Americas is one of the most exciting global regions for tourism investments in the world right now. More than US$20 billion worth of greenfield investment in capital has flowed into the country over recent years, creating tens of thousands of jobs and transforming the sector. With CAF, UN Tourism is taking tourism investments to the next level, building a more resilient and diverse sector right across the region.”
