Mexico City was the top destination for tourism-related funds, receiving $196 million, followed by the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, with $164 million and the central state of San Luis Potosi, with $101 million, the ministry said.

The bulk of the investment went toward lodging, real estate, food and beverage, the ministry added, explaining that the data were compiled from information reported by investors, federal entities, and various business chambers.

The ministry said that Mexico has attracted $14.59 billion in tourism investment since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.

The investment comes despite Calderon’s drug war, which has claimed an estimated 40,000 lives since he took office.

Investors in the tourism sector told the ministry that they recover their investments quickly in Mexico, and that the country’s macroeconomic conditions and skilled workforce make it an attractive place to do business.

By Amy Guthrie

via Marketwatch

What neither of them was referring to was the beach, the hotels or Albufera. It was specficially the monotonous row of shops and “locales”, a number of them empty, which form much of the “strip”. And strip is more appropriate when describing Playa de Muro than other “strips”, such as that in Magaluf or The Mile in Alcúdia. It is a strip precisely because it is a strip, a strip of land between the sea and Albufera. And strip, save for the inland encroachment by the Las Gaviotas lake, is pretty much it where Playa de Muro is concerned. Always of course assuming that anyone knows that they are actually in Playa de Muro and not Alcúdia.

There has been virtually no investment in Playa de Muro, other than that made by the hoteliers and some other businesses. The main road may have been upgraded, but national funds went towards that. The town hall does almost nothing. It can see fit to fork out close to half a million euros on the “heritage” bull-ring site in the town in the misguided belief that it will form part of a “tourist route”, but it cannot bring itself to fund developments in or changes to its resort. It, the town hall, places a lot of store in a golf course, which may or may not be built, but which won’t, strictly speaking, even be in Playa de Muro. And it, the town hall, wouldn’t pay for this either.

The chap with whom I was taking a coffee pointed to the pavement next to where we were drinking. It’s narrow, he said. People have to walk in the road. Puerto Pollensa, he went on, Puerto Alcúdia, in the port, people love them, because they can walk along the promenades. Not in Playa de Muro they can’t, because it doesn’t have one. There’s no centre, there’s no anything.

This is a Mallorcan speaking. But he’s not necessarily typical. He’s not totally Mallorcan for one thing. Part northern European. Outward looking. And critical. “Why don’t they make you tourism minister?” he ventures. I thank him for his support. “I don’t care if someone doesn’t speak Catalan.” He goes on to attack the appointment of Ferrer as tourism minister: “it was his turn”. We talk about investment, or lack of it, and about prices. There’s this constant harping on about prices, about how expensive Mallorca is, much of it coming via the English press locally. “Yea, it has become expensive,” he admits. But so much of the price criticism is bullshit, he says. It comes from those who don’t understand how things have changed; from those living in a low-cost past. And it isn’t just Mallorca.

“Ok, we have to say it’s not cheap, but that’s why we have to be better than the rest.” Which means investment. It’s not as though there isn’t investment, just that it isn’t always the right investment. He cites the money that gets pumped into promoting Catalan. And this is a Catalan (Mallorquín) speaker. He’s having none of it, especially compared with miserly sums that might get pumped into tourism, often of the wrong sort. If investment at all, which brings us back to Playa de Muro. You can understand why the hoteliers, which have created some outstanding hotels in the resort, can get upset when they see the lack of attention being paid elsewhere.

Later, I see that hotels on the island are dropping their prices. The press makes out that this somehow vindicates what has been said by, among others, Harry Goodman. Possibly so, but who benefits? The tour operators are turning the screw, but does this mean they will lower their own prices or just make better margins? I said to someone else a few days ago that you would think that the press would be less simplistic than merely trot out the often banal prices mantra. Not so, he responded, and held up a paper in front of his face. What did he mean? The press hides away, it is too remote, too lacking in an appreciation. It’s probably true and is the opposite of what you would hope the press would be. It takes a lot of coffees and a lot of time sitting in cafes, but if you want to know what is happening, really happening, this is what you have to do. Yes, there is moaning and groaning, but there is also much that is realistic and constructively critical, starting with understanding that prices are never going to be what they were and that investment, of the right type, needs to be made.

Alcúdia supermarkets at Easter
There was a question left as a comment to a piece a couple of days ago, which asked about supermarket opening hours over Easter. To answer the question, no, it isn’t the thing I would normally do on the blog, but whatever … . According to the Eroski near to the Playa de Muro boundary in Puerto Alcúdia, it will be closed on Sunday, but will be open till two on the Monday and this coming Thursday and Friday. They seemed to think that the Eroski in the old town and in Can Picafort would be open till two on Sunday (and possibly also the one going into the port in Alcúdia). Tourist supermarkets, which are of course quite a bit more expensive, will – in all likelihood – be open all hours. I hope this answers the question.

Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Tall ships are immediately compelling and dramatic. Under full sail, these largest of sailing vessels are beautiful and embody power with grace as they evoke the great age of sail. Large sailing ships dominated the seas as they carried commerce up and down rivers and coastlines, and are a major part of the lore of the pirate trade and as they crossed the world’s oceans into the 20th century.

There has been a renewed interest in these ships primarily due to their starring role in many films over the past several years.  One great example of this is the Black Pearl, Captain Jack Sparrow’s beloved ship, the loss of which sets in to motion most of the plot line action in the fabulous Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. Tall Ships events are organized all over the world each year. The Year 2010 will be marked by the Historic Seas Tall Ships Regatta that will attract millions of visitors. Many will even be able to actually sail on board of one of those majestic ships. This is what Tall Ships Sailing Charter is about: sailing with a tall ship and enjoying a journey you never will forget.

No wonder that, despite the economic recession,  the tall ships and cruising with larger vessels enjoy a constant interest of people and where other businesses had to downsize and cut prices, the sailing charter still favors fully booked travels all around the world. These ships actually still make money in a time that almost any business suffers from low incomes and great losses. We see that where people cut on expenses in purchasing consumer goods, do not buy a new car and do not invest in a new house, the still want to have the experience of their life: sailing with a tall ship.

Green investment

Another reason for an even increased interest in Tall Ships is the fact that they use the wind as main source of propulsion rather than the cruise ships that are  polluting the seas and air with their big engines while throwing over tons of garbage after every meal. The Tall Ships have seen that we need to preserve out environment because that is our life, our business.

A New Company, the Cyprus based Mediterranean Sailing Invest Ltd., now offers a unique opportunity to become part of the magic world of Tall Ships. It offers investors the possibility to invest in a Tall Ship and benefit from the revenues of the ship. A unique investment that offers an estimated return of 8% to 10% per year. And after the investment period the participation is valued at its intrinsic value, i.e. the participants actually benefit from the expected increase in value of their shares and by that offering an projected overall return on investment (ROI) of over 10%.

Luxury cruises

Investing in Tall Ships with MSI is investing in existing ships, so no risk or problems that often occur when investing in a ship that has to be constructed. The ships of MSC, the Maltese shipping company that operates the ships, only purchases well maintained sailing charter ships. The special maintenance crew keeps them in the best shape: the sails, the auxilary engines,  carrying out repairs, polishing the precious copper and bronze, painting and scrubbing the decks and when it comes to replace a piece of wood or metal, the specialists each in their own domain do their best job to preserve the value of the ship.

The finance  structure is very transparant: MSI provides capital to MSC, partly as a loan (so-called debt finance), partly as share capital (equity). Each participant receives a certificate of participation that represents the investment in MSC. This certificate is issued by MSI who keeps the shares and debt letters in MSC. The investment is covered by the value of the ship one invests in but the revenues the participants receive are paid from the overall results of the shipping company. With this the risk of having invested in a ship that temporarily makes less revenues than the other ships of the shipping company therefore is eliminated. Mediterranean Sailing Invest in fact is not an investment fund but a participation company that offers participations to its investors; MSI invests in sail training, tourism and Tall Ship cruising.

Participants can already join with a minimum of 12.500 EURO while total maximum investment term is 12 years. However after 5 years part of the investment is paid back while participants also can trade their certificates during the investment period. At the end of the term the shipping company pays back the loan to MSI. MSI sells the shares of the participants and that generates the extra revenue at the end of the investment period when the shares are traded at a higher value that the purchase value.

There are also special benefits for the participants: every year the participants are invited to sail on board of ‘their’ ship on the Tall Ship experience Day. Moreover the participants can rent the ships of sail with the ships on individual cruises. A special highly discounted pricing scheme is available for the participants.

With this investment, Mediterannean Sailing Invest introduces a new very attractive investment product on the international market that will appeal to many investors and those who experienced the magic of the Tall Ships by having sailed with them already in particular.

More information: http://mscinvest.wordpress.com (English) or http://msinvest.wordpress.com (Dutch)

Important Notice

Besides all the nice features of investing in tall ships it also is a high risk investment. Despite the fact that the ships always will have a base value and that they are insured for the value of the investment, investing in ships involves risks. The returns cannot be guaranteed as the market of these ships is a relatively small market with relatively few operators. New legislation such as SOLAS and IMO regulations may require large investments to keep the ships up to date with safety regulations. Please read carefully our risk analyses before investing.

In tourism development, Brazil’s main competitor has been itself. With over 3,000 miles of coastline with pristine beaches and diverse attractions, the most difficult challenge is for a local destination within Brazil to gain international recognition on its own, done in part by consolidating the development in a concentrated area.

However, the region around Salvador da Bahia is moving to the forefront as Brazil’s international destination, having specific, centrally-located advantages. Portugal’s first capital in South America and undoubtedly capital of Afro-Brazilian culture, Salvador offers excellent art, entertainment, and cuisine, and is home to the world’s largest carnival, with more open attendance than Rio’s. Furthermore, a city of over three million, Salvador offers a labor force that can support commercial development with relatively little relocation.

And just a short distance from vivid Salvador lies the Costa dos Coqueiros, or Coconut Coast. Aside from the 120 miles of uninterrupted palm tree-viewing that gave it its name, the region also boasts several unique beach towns, tropical forest reserves, and pre-Colombian and colonial attractions. Close to Salvador, and more importantly Salvador’s international airport, the Coconut Coast has recently seen large, diversified, and consolidated foreign investment.

The economic recession with the consequent drop in tourist numbers has impacted destinations worldwide, but some have suffered less than others. The Algarve is one which has weathered the storm fairly well.

Visitor numbers are down but thanks to strong domestic presence during the summer when Portuguese took holidays in their homeland rather than go abroad, the drop has not been significant.

Tourist accommodation occupancy is down far less than originally feared. Significantly, the weakest performance has been shown by the least professional providers of product and services.

This confirms a trend displayed over the past thirty years as Algarve has steadily developed its tourism market. It has a track record of consistent and steady growth without the wide fluctuations suffered by many rival destinations. Being part of the Euro zone means security and wealth preservation through value stability to investors and property owners.

The Algarve has consolidated its position as a desirable destination with quality accommodation and attractions, a well-developed infrastructure and good access. The international airport at Faro is now being served by scheduled flights from over 55 European cities and charter flights from many more. Algarve’s proximity of 2 to 3 hours from its main markets has shown to be a factor of strength through good and bad times.

With sunshine year round to complement its beaches, golf and hospitality, the Algarve has long term growth potential as a consolidated destination.  However, development has been constantly reduced over the last 20 years and some 70% of the Algarve coastline has been declared nature reserve. At the same time, the supply of prime land resource for development has been greatly reduced. Future demand must drive investment values upwards.

Constantino Jordan