Nicaragua tourism industry has become one of the countries major factors in its increased economic success. During the last 10 years, the tourism industry has been one of the most dynamic of the Nicaraguan economy, reporting an annual average growth of 13 percent in visits and 11 percent in tourism receipts. Additionally, investments in this industry in 2007 grew 14 percent in comparison to 2006, reaching US$21.7 million.
PRONicaragua, the official investment promotion agency of Nicaragua, recently received confirmation from Burba Hotel Network (BHN) that Nicaragua has been selected to host the upcoming Central America Tourism & Hotel Investment Exchange (CATHIE), which will be held March 24 – 26 of 2009. The conference aims to gather international investors and tourism developers to showcase investment opportunities offered by this sector in Central America.
CATHIE will focus on the hotel and tourism investment opportunities in the rapidly growing Central America region. The Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) of The World Bank Group as well as each of the Central American countries are supporting this event. CATHIE’s inaugural conference was held this year in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and welcomed nearly 250 hotel and tourism industry leaders eager to network and learn about hotel investment opportunities in Central America.
Regarding CATHIE, Javier Chamorro, Executive Director of PRONicaragua, added that “We are extremely excited to host such a prestigious event, we truly believe that this new edition will be a success, demonstrating that Central America as a whole has truly arrived as the next great destination for investment. For us specifically it will be a great opportunity to demonstrate our country’s enthusiasm towards attracting foreign investment and for participants an opportunity to confirm why many publications have called Nicaragua the next tourism hot spot.”
Registration for CATHIE 2009 is already open; companies and institutions who wish to participate in this important tourism and hotel conference may register online at www.cathieconference.com.
One property developer in Nicaragua feels investors have a fears of the stock market and that by investing in prime real estate they will be able to ride out the financial storm. Kevin Fleming, the founder and chairman of Grupo Mariana, says: “We believe Nicaragua is now where Costa Rica was when it began to focus on tourism and development. It offers the same type of potential for outstanding returns over time.”
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