Bolivia is facing an economic decision of a structural nature. For decades, the country has sustained its growth on extractive models which, although they have generated income in certain cycles, show clear limitations in terms of employment, productive diversification, resilience, and territorial distribution of wealth. In contrast, regional and international evidence shows that economies that planfully migrate toward service-based models—with tourism as an articulating axis—achieve more stable, inclusive, and sustainable impacts over time.

In Latin America, tourism represents between 8% and 12% of GDP in countries that have strategically committed to this sector, such as Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, or Colombia. Bolivia, prior to the pandemic, barely exceeded 4% of GDP, a figure that bears no relation to its extraordinary natural, cultural, and territorial wealth. This gap is not the result of a lack of tourism supply, but rather of persistent structural weaknesses: low connectivity, fragmented planning, limited institutional capacity, and an unclear international narrative. In economic terms, the issue is not a lack of attractions, but a model that fails to convert potential into value.

The transition toward a service-based economy offers clear comparative advantages over extractive sectors. First, tourism generates between three and five times more employment per dollar invested, making it an effective instrument to address unemployment and informality. Second, it distributes income territorially, benefiting communities, municipalities, and regions that have historically remained on the margins of major economic flows. Finally, it reduces external vulnerability, as diversifying tourism markets decreases dependence on volatile international prices. In simple terms, a tourist is not exported: they remain in the territory, consume local services, and amplify the destination through recommendation.

However, international tourism is highly sensitive to entry barriers. Restrictive visas, limited air connectivity, perceptions of social conflict, or lack of facilitation carry a direct economic cost. Regional studies show that a 10% increase in air connectivity can boost international tourist arrivals by up to 7%, and that each regular international flight generates between 20 and 40 million dollars annually in direct and indirect economic impact. Without a clear strategy for connectivity, facilitation, and country reputation, Bolivia cannot seriously aspire to consolidate a service-based economy. Opening up to the world is not an ideological decision; it is an economic decision based on data.

Added to this equation is an increasingly decisive factor: sustainability, and in particular water management. Climate change has turned water resources into a critical element of tourism competitiveness. According to international organizations, more than 60% of emerging destinations will face severe water stress over the next two decades. In this context, integrating water, land-use planning, and tourism is not a symbolic gesture, but an economic strategy. Destinations that do so achieve longer visitor stays, lower social conflict, and a more stable return on investment. When properly managed, sustainability does not make tourism more expensive; it makes it competitive.

Community-based tourism reinforces this territorial logic. Although it represents less than 5% of the global market, it concentrates one of the fastest-growing segments: high-value travelers, long stays, and high local spending. In Bolivia, well-established experiences show that tourism can generate significantly higher income than traditional activities, reduce forced migration, and preserve languages, knowledge, and intangible heritage. From an economic perspective, every dollar that enters a tourism community circulates several times more than in conventional models, tangibly strengthening local economies.

Intelligent diversification completes the model. Modern tourism does not rely solely on landscapes, but on urban and service ecosystems: gastronomy, meetings and events tourism, education, and health. The gastronomy industry can account for up to 30% of total tourist spending, while MICE tourism mobilizes visitors who spend two to three times more than leisure tourists. Added to this are educational and health tourism, segments in which Bolivia once held a leading position and which today require order, security, connectivity, and certification to be reactivated.

All of this potential only materializes with effective public–private coordination. Tourism has one of the highest multiplier effects in the economy: for every dollar invested, between 1.7 and 2.5 dollars in total impact are generated, and each direct job creates at least 1.5 indirect jobs. When the State regulates intelligently and the private sector invests responsibly, tourism becomes a generator of foreign exchange, a creator of decent employment, and a social stabilizer.

In the 21st century, moreover, competing means digitalization and internationalization. More than 70% of travel decisions are made in digital environments. Without data, platforms, standards, and online reputation, destinations simply do not exist. Bolivia meets the conditions the world demands: authenticity, sustainability, and diversity. What is lacking is not potential, but structure.

Migrating toward a service-based economy does not mean renouncing the past, but evolving with economic intelligence. Sustainable tourism offers something that few sectors can simultaneously guarantee: income, employment, identity, and future.

Bolivia has what it takes. The challenge is to turn the moment into a historic decision.

Author: Andrés A. Aramayo Bejarano

Vice Minister for the Promotion of Sustainable Tourism – Plurinational State of Bolivia