Paraguay’s 10-Year Tourism Plan To 5x Annual Visitors

Hey guys, Mikkel here,

We all admire governments that plan 10 years out.

When a country has the foresight to think in decades instead of election cycles, we commend it. 

We look at that and say, “this is the kind of place that could be positioned exceptionally well if the right people keep building, the right capital keeps arriving, and the right infrastructure plans keeps moving forward.”

We admire that kind of planning because it means seriousness, discipline and vision. 

We also admire individuals and families who plan 10 years out.

And in today’s world, planning 5, 10, or 15 years into the future does not simply mean having a retirement account, a stock portfolio, and a paid-off house in your home country.

That may have been enough for previous generations.

It is not enough anymore.

Today, long-term planning means optionality.

It means holding hard assets, like land or international real estate, in different jurisdictions. 

It means having the legal right to live somewhere else, which only happens with the right residency or citizenship status. 

It means positioning yourself and your family so that if the rules change at home, you are not left scrambling with everyone else.

For me, Paraguay plays a very specific role in that strategy.

I own hard assets here.

I buy up underpriced, high-upside land (that will one day be highly sought after). 

I own cash-flowing real estate like well-positioned units that can generate income, benefit from local demand, and appreciate as the country continues to develop.

For the average person looking to deploy capital offshore, international diversification does not need to begin with an overly complicated structure or ultra-complex strategy.

A single unit in a growing city paired with a plan to secure permanent residency is enough to do the trick (for starters). 

That is how serious people begin preparing for the future.

“But Mikkel, what happens if the political winds change?”

It’s a fair question.

When you’re buying real estate, land banking, or positioning yourself in a country, you cannot simply look at what is happening today.

You need to ask whether the trajectory has staying power.

You need to ask whether the momentum is based on one person, one administration… or is it supported by a variety of factors working in unison (this is what is happening in Paraguay to a significant degree, I must add). 

You need to ask whether the momentum is based on one person, one administration, or whether it is supported by a variety of factors working in unison (which is precisely what is happening in Paraguay today).  

In Paraguay’s case, I keep seeing this: 

The momentum is not fragile because it is supported by a strong alignment of public policy, private capital, infrastructure development, foreign investment, and the desire of Paraguayans themselves to see their country move into a new era of growth.

That is why I remain so bullish on Paraguay.

This is not a country sitting around, hoping that cheap energy, food independence, low taxes, and geographic advantages will be enough to carry it forward for the next 100 years. 

It is building, planning, courting capital, modernizing and doing the right things, the right ways.

Let’s get into it,

The 10-Year Signal: Paraguay’s Plan To Become A Tourism Hub

Paraguay’s tourism board has outlined a plan to increase the country's annual visitors from roughly 2 million to 10 million by 2037.

…and of course they have a serious plan for it and are not simply relying on “an advertising push” to make it happen.

Paraguay's tourism minister, Jacinto Santa María, has outlined his intentions, backed by a plan to create what has been referred to as “anchor tourism projects”.

In fact, he even mentioned the government has already had discussions with “the first investors” to begin creating a Disney-esque theme park that would give people a reason to stay longer, spend more, and ultimately, treat Paraguay as a vacation-worthy destination.

Paraguay understands that if it wants to capture more tourism dollars, more foreign attention, more investor confidence, and more regional relevance, it needs to create reasons for people to come, stay, spend, and return.

Jacinto is all-in on this idea… he discussed it 11 years ago in an op-ed that was published (long before he was the minister of tourism). 

“If we had those powerfully attractive tourism products, why wouldn't people in South America come to Paraguay instead of going to Orlando, for example, which is much further away?” 

I like this comparison, especially because Orlando was not born as one of the most visited family tourism destinations on earth… it was created.

It was engineered through vision, capital, infrastructure, entertainment, hospitality, logistics, and a long-term understanding that if you create the right product, in the right place, the people will come.

Now, I am not saying Paraguay is going to become Orlando; however, it doesn’t take much imagination to understand that a project of this scale could draw in millions of annual tourists from countries like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay (and beyond).

Beyond the increased tourism dollars that will flow in, I also want to emphasize that the auxiliary benefits of this project will be massive if the country is able to get the funding and approvals they are currently seeking. 

Simply put, an “anchor tourism project” like this would create far more than just ticket sales; it would also create ticket sales (hotel demand, restaurant demand, retail demand, as well as all the other service providers required to service millions of new visitors every year). 

In Paraguay right now, the future they are planning for is bigger, more ambitious, and more globally connected than the version of the country even those of us who are incredibly bullish on Paraguay thought even just 5 years ago.

“But Mikkel, What If The Government Changes?”

I ask myself the same thing before I allocate any of my hard-earned capital into a country. 

Here are my thoughts: 

In more mature Western countries, politics often becomes a theatre of decline.

Countries achieve greatness, reach a level of wealth and comfort, and then, over time, the political conversation shifts away from production, growth, infrastructure, security, business creation, and competitiveness.

Instead, people begin fighting over how to redistribute the wealth created by previous generations.

They argue over ideology, punish productivity, tax the builders and create friction. 

They cower and allow the activist types to influence them, and, sadly, even have a strong pull over the country’s economic reality.

…and eventually, the country starts managing decline rather than building the future.

Paraguay is not in that stage… far from it. 

Paraguay is building, and the country's people are all for it.

Paraguay is an emerging market, far, FAR from having to deal with the problems now afflicting many once-great nations.

For citizens of emerging markets, the incentives are different.

The average person can still see the benefits of growth and directly benefit from them, too.

They can see more jobs… and get them too.  

They can see new roads… and end up spending a ton of time commuting using them. 

They can see foreign investors taking the country seriously and know that what is good for the country is good for them. 

In other words, “growth” is not a buzzword in Paraguay.  

It is visible and physical. 

…and when people can see the benefits of a pro-growth trajectory, it becomes much harder for any future government to reverse course without creating backlash from the very people benefiting from that growth.

This is why I strongly believe the trajectory has serious staying power.

The growth incentives are aligned between the country and its citizens. 

The government wants investment.

Local families want better opportunities for better lives… and they understand that for this to come to fruition, the government has to continue on its growth path. 

Barring something far out of left field happening (which is nearly impossible to imagine happening), do you think some loony socialist regime will be able to sway the population within the next 50 years and take power?

…I certainly don’t. 

How YOU Can Benefit From The Next Decade of Growth… While Prices Still Reflect 2026

The biggest upside is rarely captured by the people who wait until every bridge is finished, every tower is occupied, every growth goal is achieved, every district is fully built, every foreign brand has arrived, or every hotel is running at 90% occupancy. 

By then, you can still participate.

Of course you can.

…but you will usually participate at a very different price.

I was speaking with my trusted partner, Fernando, last week, as I often do, because a couple of clients reached out to me about expanding their investment footprint in Paraguay.

After our call, I asked him to send me a quick snapshot of his current projects.

Here is what he sent me: 

The RISE: We have studios available from 53k. The RISE will stick out like a sore thumb (in a good way) in Ciudad del Este, because this building looks more like something you’d expect to find in Miami or Madrid. This is the building that is “modernizing” Ciudad del Este. 

Arbolia: Gated community with 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom units with vast amenities. We have 3-bedroom units (100 sqm) available from $132k. We divide the project into 3 phases, with the 1st to be delivered shortly and the 2nd by the end of the year.

Leblon: This is a boutique building, one “segment” above “our middle-class market” (this one is upper-level). It is just steps away from our retail plaza mall, inside a gated community called Terranova (it is the only apartment building inside that community). We have 2-bedroom, 2-bath units available for $150k, including the parking space. Delivery in July.

Soho: This one is special as it was launched exclusively to the Expat Money community. We have just one last studio available (8-E) for $77k (includes the parking space).

…pair any of these with residency status, and you’re well on your way to future-proofing your life.

Write to Fernando at  [email protected] to discuss the current inventory and determine which opportunity is the best fit for your situation.

I assure you that, among these four projects, there is something for every single one of you reading this.

Be it as an investment, a retirement home, or a “rainy-day Plan-B home,” among the four developments I have listed above, there is literally something for every single one of you reading this right now (even if you’re early into your wealth-building journey and can only allocate around 50,000 USD).

If you are only looking for Paraguayan exposure and have zero intention of ever setting foot in Paraguay (let alone spending any meaningful amount of time there), the studio units at The RISE or the single studio remaining in Soho are what I would recommend, as these are pure cash-flow generators. 

Low touch, hands off cash flow, month in month out, year after year inside Paraguay’s most important and fastest growing city (Ciudad del Este). 

A safe, high-upside bet. Easy peasy.

…now, if you are someone who clearly understands the risks of not having a place you can legally stay if your home country continues to deteriorate any further than it already has, then I would recommend securing a position in Leblon or Arbolia. 

Even with the larger footprints and livable layouts, these units are affordable by just about any standard.

I would view these properties as a hedge against the decline of the West; something you can use if need be, without having to outlay serious capital to give yourself this type of “high-level futureproofing”. 

…it should go without saying that both these developments have strong rental appeal, and you will not be hard-pressed to find solid tenants (long-term or short-term).

Look, I don’t want to downplay the significance of five and six-figure sums. 

We’ve all worked hard for what we have, and I’m sure we can agree that growing it for our children is something we take deadly seriously, and thus, making sure our capital is working hard for us (and for them) is paramount.

Here in Paraguay, your capital will be working hard for you and them. Period. 

Write to Fernando at [email protected] to discuss the current available inventory and learn more about what is the right fit for your unique situation.

Apart from being one of Paraguay’s most respected developers, Fernando is a great friend of mine. I trust him to help you do what is best for you and your loved ones, just as I have trusted him to help me do the same.

[email protected] for Fernando.

Just some food for thought before we wrap things up:

Serious capital does not chase “flash-in-the-pan” success.

…it may be early, aggressive and opportunistic, but serious capital does not commit to a country if it believes the growth story will be short-lived.

Serious capital is not in the business of “getting in and getting out”. 

When a multinational, a family office, a real estate group, a venture capital firm, or a serious private investor enters a market with meaningful capital, they are thinking about the next five, ten, twenty, and fifty years. 

They are considering policy direction, legal stability, tax treatment, and irrevocable geographic advantages. 

They are thinking about the likelihood that the environment will remain attractive enough to justify the risk.

If people believed Paraguay’s growth was a short-term political accident, they would not be putting serious money to work here.

I would not have invested seven figures in the country.

My partners would not have relocated from Europe more than a decade ago to take on serious development projects here.

Paraguay is the real deal, and investing here now means thanking yourself (and me) later.
 

Speak soon,
Mikkel

PS. I mentioned securing residency several times in this newsletter. For the sake of clarity, my team at Expat Money has been helping countless families and investors do exactly this since. To learn more about securing residency in Paraguay, you can visit this page here: ExpatMoney.com/Residency-In-Paraguay.