It was announced today, that the Central America Tourism & Hotel Investment Exchange (CATHIE) will be held April 13-15, 2010, at the Radisson Plaza Hotel San Salvador, El Salvador.

Hosted by BHN, CATHIE focuses on the hotel and tourism investment opportunities in the rapidly growing Central America region. The Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) of The World Bank Group is
supporting the event, and all seven Central American countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) have been invited to become patrons of CATHIE. Last year’s event in Managua, Nicaragua, welcomed more than 200 hotel and tourism industry leaders eager to network and learn about hotel investment opportunities in Central America.

A full program of timely, topical sessions will run along side an active networking/exhibit hall. The program will be developed with the assistance of the 2010 CATHIE Program Planning Committee comprised of leadership of Central America’s investment promotion agencies, as well as industry leading hotel companies and advisors in the region. Program planning is about to begin, and information about the CATHIE program is available at www.CATHIEconference.com .

About the 2010 edition of CATHIE, Jim Burba, president of BHN, said “We are delighted to be presenting the third annual CATHIE in San Salvador, and have been very impressed with the professionalism of the team at PROESA, at the Radisson Plaza Hotel, and indeed with everyone involved in the selection process in El Salvador. From what we have seen, the future of tourism is very bright in El Salvador.” Burba added “The fact that the first two CATHIE events have been successful even during the troubled economic times of the 18 months, suggests a bright future for our industry in the region as the economic conditions improve.

“We are honored to host the most important tourism and hotel investment summit in the region: the 2010 Central America Tourism & Hotel investment Exchange (CATHIE). We will make every last effort to make it the most interesting and enjoyable one yet!” said Enrique Cordova, Director, PROESA – The investment promotion agency of El Salvador. Cordova added, “Central America is rapidly becoming the next tourism and investment “hot spot,” and the visionary hotel chains, developers, and investors have already focused their attention to and many have already invested in the region. Central America, as a whole and El Salvador in particular has all the necessary elements to attract Foreign Direct Investment and delegates will see and learn this first hand in April at what promises to be an unforgettable CATHIE in San Salvador.”