Tourism at the Inter-American Development Bank

During the past five years the IDB Group has become more active in tourism. This trend is due mainly to the fact that tourism is increasingly being considered by IDB member country governments and other donors alike, as a viable and sustainable mechanism for economic and social development. In addition to the common knowledge that tourism generates both foreign exchange and employment, there is an ever increasing knowledge base that asserts that the travel and tourism industry can contribute to sustainable development and, in particular, to poverty alleviation and the preservation of biodiversity.

Although the Bank has and continues to approve tourism projects that invest in infrastructure, more recently, it has intervened in areas related principally to the conservation of the environment and cultural heritage, training of human resources and, to a lesser extent, in supporting social inclusion in the context of poverty alleviation (community based tourism development). As for the Multilateral Invest Fund (MIF), it has recently approved a new initiative that is directed toward increasing the competitiveness of the locally owned Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) in the sector, which besides being a dominating characteristic of the tourism industry, plays a vital role in providing employment in the economic and social life of local communities. The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), on the other hand, has focused its interventions in the building or expanding of hotel capacity in selected countries.

Given the cross-cutting nature of tourism development, IDB tourism activities are managed by a combination of specialist teams working in the Regional Departments, , the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), and the Inter-American Investment Corporation. In each of the three geographical regions that the Bank works in throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, Bank staff in the Environment, Infrastructure and Civil Society and Governance Divisions are responsible for addressing the growing demands from Latin American and Caribbean Governments and the Private Sector to further their domestic and international tourism markets.

Further information about the Bank?s tourism activities is available in a special report on ecotourism in Latin America by IDB America.

Last updated: 01/16/07