Announcement of Thirty-Two Million US Dollars Ixtapa Tourist Hotel Planned to Involve Participation of IFC on December 6, 1978

International Finance Corporation • 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. 202-393-6360 IFC Press Release No. 79/18 Wednesday, December 6, 1978 $32.7 Million Ixtapa Tourist Hotel Planned To Involve Participation of IFC A $32.7 million, 470-room, first class tourist hotel at Ixtapa, a newly- developing resort area on Mexico's Pacific coast, will be undertaken by Banco Nacional de Mexico, S.A. (BANAMEX) with the participation of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other private investors. The Fonda Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (FONATUR) will assist in the financing of the project. BANAMEX, one of the largest private financial institutions in the country and the main sponsor, is making a $6.6 million equity investment in a new com- pany, Hotel Camino Real Ixtapa, S.A., which will implement the project. IFC, • an affiliate of the World Bank, is investing $2.3 million in equity while private investors will provide the remaining $4.2 million in equity funds. Loans of $19.6 million by BANAMEX, to be rediscount~d by FONATUR, a tourism-promotion agency of the Mexican Government, complete the financing. The project consists of the design, construction and operation of a hotel of international standards at Ixtapa, about 200 miles southwest of Mexico City. It will be one of the largest hotels on the Mexican Pacific and the only one in the Ixtapa area with convention facilities. Once completed, the project will increase existing room capacity of Ixtapa by about 40 percent. Hoteles Camino Real, S.A., a joint venture of BANAMEX and Western International Hotels of the United States, will operate the hotel. The project will benefit the economy by creating about 620 direct jobs and some 900 indirect jobs. Employees are to be hired locally and trained by the Company. In addition, the new hotel is expected to generate estimated net foreign exchange earnings of $11.4 million annually. Ixtapa is one of three large tourism poles being developed in Mexico by the Government, through FONATUR. These poles involve the participation of the •  • - 2 - government sector to provide the infrastructure and supporting facilities, the private sector to develop the superstructure, and international institutions to assist in financing. The tourism poles are expected to give rise to sub- stantial employment in their regions as well as P-ncourage foreign tourism to the country. Infrastructure at the Ixtapa resort complex, for which the World Bank provided financial assistance, has been completed. Establishment of the new Camino Real hotel is expected to promote additional hotel ventures in the area, thereby helping to assure rapid utilization of the infrastructure. • (Any inquiries strictly relating to IFC's participation in this project should be directed to the IFC Information Office, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, Telephone (202) 477-5340.) •