Last week, Mexico announced that Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur will be the location for the 2012 Group of 20 (G20) Summit, which will bring the leaders and finance ministers of 20 of the world's most powerful countries to this tropical paradise. 16,000 visitors are expected to attend the Summit, collectively representing more than 90 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), around 80 percent of world trade volume and more than two-thirds of the world's population.

The semi-annual gathering of this enormous economic base and its collective purchasing power make the G20 Summit one of the most important and influential meetings in existence, with dramatic effects on the global economy. Cabo San Lucas real estate was chosen for the 2012 meeting due to the high level of luxury and safety that visitors routinely experience.

To accommodate the summit, Mexican president Felipe Calderon has allocated more than $180 million to build a new convention center here, as well as to construct a massive, four-lane highway that will stretch from San Jose to Cabo.

“Hosting the G20 Summit in Los Cabos would be a tremendous opportunity for our destination as well as for the country of Mexico, said Gonzalo Franyutti of the CVB in a press release last month. “Los Cabos has the exclusive appeal, a contemporary tourism infrastructure and the safety record required to host an event of this global caliber. As a haven for VIPs throughout the world, Los Cabos is truly the 'Window to the World' for Mexico.”

Franyutti has met extensively with Patricia Espinoza, who is Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Relations, as well as with Gloria Guevara Manzo, the country's Secretary of Tourism, to express the commitment Cabo San Lucas is willing to make in order to accommodate the 2012 G20 Summit. “There is a great interest in having Los Cabos host the meeting, since it has many advantages as a Mexican destination, like security, a strategic geographic location, a perfect climate, the quality of our hotels, our highway infrastructure,” said Franyutti.