The past importance of Merida, as a center of trade, reaches back to the eighteen hundreds. Spanish nobility, who had arrived in the 16th century, were raking in fortunes in the henequen trade. The world operated on fiber; without it there would be no navies. Trade between the Yucatan, New Orleans, Cuba and France brought fortunes to the local gentry. Yucatan boasted more millionaires than New York City and independence from the rest of Mexico was the political flavor. The revolution and shortly after, synthetic fiber, eroded the need for the natural product. The families of the bygone henequen trade were left not only with wealth but also large land holdings. These economic changes brought with them a century of little activity and the region was all but forgotten in the eyes of the world: until Cancun.

In the 1970’s the decision was made, after much politicking and deliberation, to develop a destination resort for the American tourist market. The attention Cancun derived from its new-found fame began to spread throughout the Yucatan Peninsula. Campeche became a Unesco heritage site and Merida was recognized as the center of the Mayan world. The change in Mexican government, with the arrival of the Fox era, brought with it not only sorely needed change but also instilled confidence in foreign investors.

Today the Yucatan Peninsula is seeing rapid growth, in not only population but also infrastructure. The road system is constantly being upgraded to allow for safer, faster travel and a more efficient movement of goods. Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum are within 3 to 4 hours drive of Merida. The port town of Progreso, 35 km north of Merida, is the largest port in the Yucatan. Cruise ship traffic is increasing yearly but the real growth lies in container traffic. Puerto de Yucatan, which will be the new branded name of this existing facility, is well positioned as a road head for goods arriving by sea and destined for southern Mexico. The new 8 lane divided highway between Progreso and Merida, the new Spanish-owned and operated container facility, as well as the road improvement from Merida further into Mexico, shows the government’s progressive attitude.

The emphasize on growth, investment and development has been, until recently, focused first on Cancun, then Playa del Carmen and now aggressively towards Tulum. Caribbean investment dollars were originally Mexican. Over the years, this has changed with investment flowing from many countries, largely Spain but also the Orient and Arab nations.

The ever-growing awareness of hurricanes, the damage they can cause and exorbitant insurance rates now have investors turning their eyes toward Merida and surrounding beach areas. Three hundred kilometers of land separate Merida and the Gulf of Mexico beaches from the Caribbean Sea, which diminishes greatly the frequency, intensity and damage these storms cause. In a quadrant Northeast to Southwest from Merida lie 150 kilometers of beach within an hour's drive. Beach front and beach view properties are 25% - 50% less than Caribbean beach. In the past two years, developers both local and foreign have started projects in this region of varying magnitude.

The decentralization of Merida is progressing at a frenzied pace. Where two years ago there were two shopping malls, anchored by major retailers, the count at the end of 2008 will be seven. The cities expected population growth, doubling to 2,000,000 by 2016, is driven mostly by Mexicans moving from major cities throughout the country and secondly by foreigners. This presents many interesting investment potentials in both the inner city and the beach areas.

At present Merida and the state of Yucatan offer investors a multitude of opportunities to benefit from this under-valued up and coming area.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, a 30 country membership including the USA, Canada Spain, Japan and UK, states in their Yucatan Territorial Review:

• Quality of life is one of Yucatan’s primary advantages due to abundant coastal and water resources, numerous cultural and tourism destinations, extensive physical infrastructure, attractive year-round climate, quality service providers, including education and health care, low levels of serious crime, high levels of satisfaction, and a fair degree of social cohesion.
  
• Mérida boasts an ample pool of well-trained physicians and specialists and several first-rate hospitals. Medical care is one of the few sectors in Yucatán that displays effective collaboration between government, the public sector and universities.