by Arturo Garcia Rosa - President & CEO, SAHIC

For a long time, Latin America and the Caribbean were perceived as emerging markets, always seen for their potential, but rarely recognized for their ability to guide global trends. This cycle is breaking. The most recent data released in the CBRE Global Hotel Outlook H2 2025 shows that the region is not only growing, it is redefining the game.

The numbers speak for themselves. Mexico received 15.6 million international tourists between January and April and added more than 2,280 new rooms to its inventory, with another 3,900 planned by the end of 2025. The Dominican Republic, which has already surpassed 4 million visitors in the first four months of the year, projects reaching 12 million tourists, driven by a pipeline of 78 projects, totaling more than 18,000 rooms.

Colombia has registered a 6.6% increase in international arrivals and is on track to generate more than US$21 billion in economic contribution from tourism. Costa Rica, in turn, is advancing with 26 new projects, supported by more than US$700 million in investments, consolidating itself as a global benchmark in ecotourism and high-standard hospitality.

These numbers are impressive, but what they truly reveal is something greater: the region has ceased to be merely a recipient of capital and has become a thesis generator. Here, brands test new concepts, operators develop hybrid hospitality models, investors find assets with repositioning potential, and governments are beginning to understand tourism as a strategic vector for development.

What was once a promise is now influence. Latin America and the Caribbean do not follow trends; they fuel the global agenda with solutions, ideas, and formats that engage with sustainability, innovation, social impact, and a plurality of products. The region not only grows; it matures, provokes, and inspires.

It is in this context that the 20th edition of SAHIC, from March 22nd to 24th, 2026, in Rio de Janeiro, becomes even more relevant. It will not be just another forum on investment and hospitality. It will be the environment where this new regional protagonism translates into concrete decisions — where global leaders come to understand, connect, and build together with the region.

The world is already looking at Latin America and the Caribbean with renewed attention. And the message that emerges from reports, projects, and conversations is clear: we are not just growing; we are leading a new way of thinking about hospitality, tourism, and real estate.

See you in Rio de Janeiro - at the epicenter of the conversation that the global industry already recognizes as indispensable.