Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Fonatur has recently released plans for five new urban projects that are aimed at boosting the competitiveness and attractiveness of (downtown) Puerto Vallarta and boosting the tourist economy to its maximum potential. Fonatur is a Federal body that specializes in identifying tourism opportunities across the country and defines strategies and actions that focus on sustainability whatever the investment - whether large or small.

At the moment, Puerto Vallarta is one of the top three tourist destinations in Mexico, and the five new projects, integrated with the city's overall development program in the downtown area, is long overdue and very much welcomed. When complete, it is expected to make Puerto Vallarta one of the top five most visited destinations in the world, according to Adalberto Fügeman, the deputy director of Fonatur.

An estimated $300 million pesos are being spent on the proposed five urban projects and all sectors of the tourism trade have been considered, including hotel and business owners and the whole transport industry. The proposed urban projects focus on five different areas of tourism and aim to fulfill the expectations of making Puerto Vallarta a top five tourist destination.

The five areas that will be covered include sport and leisure, public spaces and recreation, market/sea market, museums, and the pensioner’s residential district.

The Metrocom: located close to the Sheraton hotel is a large metropolitan complex for sport, leisure and culture. The investment is estimated at around 230 million pesos and the plans include a whole new sports stadium, regional aquarium, Sculpture Park and a beach club with a pedestrian bridge.

Sculpture Park and Lazaro Cardenas Amphitheater: will see an investment of around 34 million pesos used to recover many public spaces for cultural activities.

Sea Square: proposed plans will see a estimated $26 million pesos invested to create and develop a new sea market at Hidalgo Park to help promote and boost the sales of fresh products from the sea.

Cuale Island Natural/Archaeological Museum: it will have a proposed investment of around 16 million pesos to use for the recovery of green areas and an open air museum.

Pensioners Residential District: will use an estimated investment of 112 million pesos on the urban redesigning project which includes building a brand new Hospital, a new Spa and the renewal of green areas.

The Puerto Vallarta Historic Center Tourism Development Program is part of the city's ongoing revitalization project in the downtown area, which has already seen many changes to iconic sites such as the Malecon and Los Muertos Pier, to name a few. The vision is to build an iconic tourist destination that will improve and boost the branding, competitiveness and attractiveness of the city.