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

The bank, in a release, said Guyana can apply for funding under the programme.
According to a release, with financing from the General Cooperation Fund of Spain at the IDB, 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.

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the regions where the tourism sector has had the greatest expansion, generating 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and nine per cent 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 per cent contraction of regional tourism GDP in 2020.

The bank said that, in that context, the revitalisation of regional tourism was articulated as an essential step towards the recovery, and adoption of new technologies as the necessary engine of that process. The Sustainable Development Goals consider new technologies as a basic element towards inclusion, sustainability, competitiveness, and economic development.

From the proposals received until March 30, 2022, the IDB will select 10 destinations.
Countries that can participate are Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The type of eligible destinations, notably, are consolidated destinations, not belonging to more than two municipalities, excluding national or regional circuits. Applicant destinations may be urban, coastal or nature destinations, the release said.

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.