Tuesday, 08 February 2022 21:31

IDB opens call for tourism destinations in the region for a technological transition

Written by Evelyn Alas

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched the Future Tourism Program that addresses the technological transformation of tourism destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean as a key tool for the recovery and competitiveness of tourism in the region.

With funding from Spain's General Cooperation Fund at the IDB, the Future Tourism Program opens a regional call for proposals, inviting tourism destinations to benefit from a diagnosis of their level of technological maturity, in order to develop a detailed action and pre-investment plan agreed upon with public and private sector stakeholders.

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the regions where the tourism sector has experienced the greatest expansion, generating 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 9% of employment in 2019 according to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council. However, the crisis generated by COVID-19 has affected the sector notably, producing a 50% contraction of the regional tourism GDP in 2020.

In this context, the revitalization of regional tourism is articulated as the necessary step towards recovery and the adoption of new technologies as the necessary engine of this process. The Sustainable Development Goals contemplate new technologies as a basic element towards inclusion, sustainability, competitiveness and economic development.

From the proposals received by march 30, 2022, the IDB will select 10 destinations that meet the following requirements:

This initiative is aligned with Vision 2025.

IDB's Reinvesting in the Americas: A Decade of Opportunity to achieve sustainable recovery and inclusive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The following link provides information on how to participate in the FUTURE TOURISM PROGRAM's Call for Destinations.