Playa Blanca Baru, the largest and most important tourism project in Colombia, will be built half an hour’s boat ride from the Caribbean port and UN World Heritage city of Cartagena de Indias.
The project, which will include the construction of four hotels, 1,000 villas, an 18 hole golf course, a mall, a health center and an international marina, will cost an estimated $1,000 million and is destined to challenge the dominators of Caribbean tourism such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Aruba.
The resort will reportedly attract 200,000 new tourists per year and generate some $350 million in annual revenue.
The project will fuel development and economy in the region while generating employment opportunities for some 10,000 local residents from towns such as Santa Ana, Baru and Cartagena, claimed the President of the Cartagena Corporation in a report by newspaper El Heraldo on Friday.
“The project will compete as a world-class destination with the best resorts in the Caribbean and the world,” stated the vice-minister for Tourism.
The project’s owners and directors have made a commitment to ensuring that the generation of employment for local people is a top priority and employees will have the chance to be trained to work in a wide range of construction areas as well as hotel and tourism services.
Much investment is also being put into necessary social welfare projects throughout the local region to elevate the population’s standard of living with a view to developing the tourism competition potential.