Despite the global economic crisis that has occurred in recent months, some countries in South and Central America continue with their efforts so that the situation does not strongly affect the hotel industry and tourism in the region. In Mexico, for example, hotel construction and remodeling continue in different cities of the country. These investments are supported by the predictions of the National Tourism Confederation (CTN), which reiterates that at the end of 2008 inpatient tourism will have a slight increase of 3.3%, compared to 2007, attracting 22 million 126 thousand tourists.
Likewise, the Information and Statistics Center for the Tourism Entrepreneur of this nation, a member of the CTN, reported in recent days that at the end of the year a hotel occupancy of more than 60% of national walkers could be registered.
All travelers, both national and international, will have new offers for all tastes in several cities and states of Mexico.
Blue House Hotels (BHH) proposed to the firm Frida Kahlo Corporation the construction of a boutique hotel in Los Cabos, which will be named after the Mexican painter.
In addition, the idea of BHH, according to its director Carlos Cuevas, is to build six hotels in a first stage in cities such as Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, San Miguel de Allende, New York, Miami, Berlin, Barcelona, Buenos Aires or Cartagena, with an investment between 40 and 60 million dollars per property.
For its part, the new hotel in the Riviera Maya, Hacienda Tres Ríos, which began its operation last November, has 273 suites available for tourists who want to enjoy the 132 hectares of the natural park in which it is located, its three rivers, an estuary, ten cenotes and more than a kilometer and a half of fine sandy beaches. All rooms were built with natural materials from the region, the furniture was made in local cedar and the floor in Mexican marble.
This new resort that is located in the south of Cancun, north of Playa del Carmen and a few miles from the Island of Cozumel, contemplates the construction, in the future, of five boutique hotels, a marina of international category and an exclusive residential area.
Likewise, the Spanish chain NH Hoteles will continue with its expansion plans in 2009 with the construction of three new hotels in Guadalajara, Querétaro and the north of Mexico City; in addition to the current construction of a hotel in Terminal 2 of the Mexico airport, which will have 300 rooms.
Cities are not far behind in this trend either. The state of Reynosa, bordering the United States, will invest 150 million for the modernization of its hotel infrastructure, which will expand the offer of lodging in more than 240 rooms. According to Hugo Garza Gómez, director of Tourism Promotion of the state, this offer will be expanded thanks to the construction of the Hampton Inn, which began operations this year, and the One and Micro Hotel hotels.
On the other hand, Guadalajara will allocate 400 million dollars in the construction of 17 hotels in the next three years, as expressed by the president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of this state (OFVC), Benito Fong.
Fong also said that in the face of the crisis the metropolis must bet on the business market, and this crisis should be considered an opportunity.
