Coming Back with FirstCaribbean Investment Bank

Isabel de Caires

Isabel de Caires at FirstCaribbean Investment Bank discusses how the bank is working through these unprecedented times of the COVID19 pandemic. For more information about how to finance your project in the in the Caribbean contact AG&T.

 

 

The State of Tourism in Latin America and Caribbean with IDB Invest

Rogerio Bass

ULI Caribbean Conversation

“The role of multilateral development banks (MDBs) in supporting the tourism sector in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

Conversation with with Rogerio Basso, Head of Tourism at IDB Invest and Adam Greenfader, Chair ULI Caribbean Council / Managing Partner AG&T.

  • * State of affairs of the tourism sector prior to COVID-19?
  • What makes this crisis different than prior ones?
  • What tourism players are doing to mitigate the impact of the pandemic?
  • Top three actions to better face this crisis?

 

Rogerio Basso leads all initiatives related to tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean for IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group. In his capacity as Head of Tourism, he is responsible for origination, investments and for executing IDB Invest’s tourism strategy in the region, offering a variety of financial instruments including debt, mezzanine and equity. Rogerio has executed numerous tourism transactions in the region spanning from hotels to conference centers.With over two decades of experience in banking, private equity, development, and strategy consulting within the hospitality and real estate sectors, Rogerio has held a variety of positions across top global firms, working across a variety of domestic and foreign markets, with a strong focus in Latin America. Prior to joining IDB Invest, he was CIO at Key International, a Miami-based real estate investment platform active across many industry sectors. He also served as EVP Acquisitions & Development for Terranum Hotels, an owner and operator of hotels across Latin America, sponsored by Colombia-based Santo Domingo Group and Sam Zell’s Equity International.

 Rogerio holds a business degree from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University.

Travel and Tourism and the COVID19 Pandemic

Headshot of Brad Dean

The Covid 19 pandemic has brought worldwide tourism to a standstill. In this ULI Caribbean Conversation, we speak with Brad Dean, CEO of Puerto Rico’s Destination Marketing Organization (DMO).  Brad shares some insights about what some of the top private and public minds in the industry are thinking, planning, and prepping for travel 2.0.

” I think this down time gives the travel and tourism industry our George Bailey moment. “We have all seen that without travel it’s pretty ugly….there is a lot greater value to travel than most of us ever realized..travel lifts spirits, it connects people, it leads to progress, exclaimed Brad Dean.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

AG&T is a real estate development and consulting company founded in 1998 with headquarters in Miami, Florida. Our  track record spans over 55 real estate development projects in Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and various other Caribbean islands.

Puerto Rico Tourism Optimistic in 2017

SAN JUAN – Citing a 96% reduction in the number of new Zika cases since the peak in October, the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. (PRTC) is optimistic heading into 2017. The PRTC launched an educational outreach program in February to dissipate “the fears and communicate the real facts” about Zika, its newest press release reads. Collaborating with the Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association (PRHTA) as well as Meet Puerto Rico, the PRTC presented it “Facts not Fear,” campaign. “Communicating the reality that Zika was not growing nearly as rapidly as the CDC had projected, the PRTC worked to change the Zika conversation, and emphasize the reality that reported cases are a fraction of what was projected. Cases are now at about 1 percent of Puerto Rico’s 3.5 million population versus forecasts that 25% of Puerto Ricans would eventually have the virus by the end of the year,” according to the Tourism Co.’s statement. “The dramatic decrease in the number of Zika cases in Puerto Rico is a testament to our integrated aggressive program to inform and disseminate the facts and allay the fears. The PRTC worked incredibly hard with the industry and health officials to communicate accurate and precise messages about Zika to the public,” Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, executive director of the PRTC, says in the published statement. “Ultimately, our team has been successful in not only educating our residents but protecting our visitors and our critical tourism industry.” Tourism annually contributes nearly $4 billion to Puerto Rico’s economy and was the first industry to come out of the island’s five-year recession, the public corporation explains in its release. “Since the start of Zika, total hotel registrations from Jan.-Sept. in 2016 are 1.6% above 2015 and 10 million passengers are expected to be welcomed by Puerto Rico airports by the end of 2016,” it reads.

Broadway star Chita Rivera, TV host Maía Celeste, baseball stars Carlos Correa and Iván Rodríguez, and Olympic gold medalist Mónica Puig also helped spread the word about how travelers can experience Puerto Rico worry-free. Medical influencers as well delivered the PRTC’s message. These included the late epidemiologist Dr. D.A. Henderson, scholar at the UPMC Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Maryland; Dr. Jason James, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Baptist Hospital in Miami; and Dr. Joseph Rosado, a primary care and emergency care physician in Orange City, FL. In addition, the World Health Organization declared in November that the Zika virus was no longer considered an international public health emergency, the PRTC adds in its release. “Our collaborative efforts to date in 2016 have been effective in allaying fears, controlling Zika and the data backs it up,” notes Clarisa Jimenez, president and CEO of the PRHTA, assures in the written statement. “It is imperative that we keep our foot on the gas pedal and aggressively continue Tourism Co.: