Yucatán Governor Mauricio Vila announced Thursday that 17 companies would invest almost 1.5 billion pesos to develop tourism, real estate, retail and restaurant projects in the eastern part of the state.
The projects are worth a combined 1.47 billion pesos (US $73.7 million) and will generate more than 4,800 direct and indirect jobs, the governor said at an event at a housing development in Valladolid, 160 kilometers east of the state capital Mérida. Vila announced a long list of projects to be developed in Yucatán’s east.
Grupo Alves is investing 653 million pesos in five real estate projects in Valladolid in addition to its new Finca Los Álamos estate where today’s event was held.
• The company Cenote Mukul will invest 500 million pesos in a sustainable tourism project on a property with a cenote (natural swimmable sinkhole) near the city.
• The company Zayanna will invest 189 million pesos to build 111 new apartments that will have access to a range of amenities including swimming pools, “wellness areas” and tennis courts, while developer Plaza Santo Secreto will build a new 120-million-peso shopping center that will include both retail stores and restaurants.
• Among other projects are numerous hotels, a 36-million-peso ecotourism park, a 16-million-peso recreational park with a zoo and on-site accommodation, a 106-lot residential project and an Italian restaurant.
The governor also announced that the transportation company Grupo ADO will launch a tourist bus service in Valladolid.
Vila stressed that his government is committed to creating well-paid jobs across Yucatán, not just in Mérida, the state’s largest city. He said tourism provides significant opportunities to generate jobs, although he acknowledged that the sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Still, the projects announced today show that there are “good conditions” for investment in Yucatán, the National Action Party governor said.
He cited the construction of a 160-meter-tall skyscraper in Mérida and Amazon’s new distribution center near the state capital as examples of companies’ confidence in investing in the state.
Theme park operator Grupo Xcaret has also invested in Yucatán, spending more than 2.8 billion pesos (US $140.4 million) to build a tourism complex featuring eight cenotes and three hotels near Valladolid.
In touting the investment potential of Yucatán, Vila noted that the state continues to be the safest in Mexico and boasted that the state police force is the most trustworthy in the country.
“According to [the national statistics agency] Inegi, … 77.2% of Yucatán residents trust the police when the national average is about 35%,” the governor said.
“… With the grain of sand that you’re putting in today as investors and the grain of sand that we’re putting in as the government, Yucatán could be a tourism powerhouse in the next 10 years,” Vila told company representatives.
Source: Milenio (sp)
