La Paz, Bolivia, August 5, 2014
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide a $7.2 million loan to finance the construction of the first Marriott hotel in Bolivia, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a key business destination where the project will help create jobs and address a gap in the city's business infrastructure.
The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) will provide a co-financing of US$8.7 million for the project, which is scheduled to be completed over the next two and half years. The hotel is slated to have 172 rooms and conference space which may accommodate more than 600 people to hold business conferences.
The project will create hundreds of jobs during the construction period and more than 200 direct jobs once it starts operations. Additionally, jobs in the tourism industry usually have a strong multiplier effect and generate as many as three new indirect jobs per direct job created, one of the key reasons behind IFC’s support for the hotel industry in developing countries like Bolivia. Hotel projects also stimulate local economic activity, and maintain high labor standards for workers.
The hotel will be Santa Cruz’s first internationally branded and managed hotel, with extensively trained staff and high service standards. This will also be IFC’s first hospitality project in Bolivia and its tenth with Marriott affiliation, which included investments in Haiti, Armenia, Jordan and Central America.
“We are excited to partner with IFC in this project, which will have a positive impact in terms of job creation and improving the infrastructure for business travelers,” said Carlos Saavedra Bruno, board president at Empresa Hotelera Icon S.A., which will own the hotel.
This company has chosen an architectural design that will promote energy efficiency. The hotel will be the first commercial green building in Bolivia and will meet IFC’s green building standards to qualify for IFC’s EDGE (Efficiency in Design for Energy Efficiency) certification.
“This project will promote an increase in international and domestic visitors to Santa Cruz and will support the development of the city as a business destination,” said Irene Arias, IFC’s director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Travel and tourism plays an increasingly important role in the economy as Bolivia attracts larger numbers of foreign and domestic travelers, many of which are business travelers to Santa Cruz, and we are pleased to be supporting this sector,” Arias said.
IFC’s strategic investments in the hotel sector are designed to bolster the industry’s contribution to employment, tax-revenue generation and the sector’s ability to generate economic activity for small- and medium-sized businesses which supply goods and services both during construction and operations.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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