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The growth of tourism to the Iguazú Waterfalls has led to tremendous growth for the city of Puerto Iguazú. Tourist visits to the Waterfalls have grown from 397,415 in 2001 to 1,188,995 in 2010. In response to this increase in tourism, the city increased its hotel capacity to attempt to accommodate, and to take economic advantage of, the current and projected growth of tourism to the city. Over the course of the last decade the Province of Misiones and the city of Puerto Iguazú developed and put into effect a Master Plan for a 335 hectare area of forest land that had been previously claimed by the indigenous Mbya Guaraní people. The hectares were a portion of 600 hectares that were claimed by the Mbya as their traditional land. In exchange for the 335 hectares, the Mbya were given legal title to the remaining 265 hectares. In this area the Master Plan called for the creation of nine five-star and fifteen three- and four-star hotels in addition to a Guaraní “theme park” called Tekoa and a golf course. This area would add some 3,000 hotel rooms, doubling the number of rooms in the city to 6,000.
While the province and city had high hopes for the Master Plan, it has not been as successful as once hoped. Hotels like the Hyatt and the Radisson ended their projects before they even began construction and the Hilton Resort and Golf Course slowed its construction and it is unclear when it will open. One hotel that did open in the 335 hectares was the five-star hotel Loi Suites which opened in April 2009.
In addition to new hotel construction in the 335 hectare area, the city is also building hotels within the older parts of the city. It has also built an outdoor amphitheater and the new “Punto Iguazú” shopping center.
This new hotel construction is in stark contrast to the abandonment of some of the construction projects in the 1990s and following the economic collapse of 2001.