Led by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado Morales, the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic organized a dinner on Wednesday at the Grand Plaza in New York to recognize companies that contribute and promote the growth of tourism from New York to the Caribbean country.
Collado welcomed the more than 400 attendees, thanking the country for the effort made over the last 10 years. “New York is the most important market for the Dominican Republic, representing 30% of all visitors from the United States.” Collado shared. “
During the event, the Ministry recognized Expedia, Hopper and Vacation Express for their contribution to promoting tourism in the Dominican Republic. He also gave special recognition to Destination Weddings, a leading wedding agency in the industry. And to the three travel companies Travelong, Flight Center Travel Group and Travel Impressions.
Since the pandemic, the Caribbean country has positioned itself as one of the main world tourist destinations, demonstrating that effective health protocols can guarantee the safety of tourists and support a healthy tourism sector. Thanks to a comprehensive strategy that was based on four fundamental pillars: participation, which consisted of everyone being able to make decisions together; monitoring of the environment, what was happening with all the countries was watched in order to be able to change (the strategy); quality monitoring, which aimed to ensure that the protocols were followed, that the hotels and the street were safe; finally, the one of efficiency because there were few state revenues and with a lower budget we had to show that it could be done, and it has been so”. Indicated the technical deputy minister Jacqueline Mora.
As steps towards the future, the Minister announced the plans for the development of Miches, El Seibo, with an investment of one billion dollars, for which agreements have been established with several entrepreneurs in the hotel industry, among which are: Frank Rainieri, Rafael Blanco and Gustavo Cisneros. The objective is the creation of an organized magical tourist destination that begins with investment by the private sector. Together with the initiatives of Pedernales and Bergantín, the tourism development of Miches forms part of a tourism diversification strategy that is based on the principle of conservation, attraction of foreign investment, increase in added value for tourists, but above all the creation employment and population mobility.
The Dominican Republic was able to recover from the number of visitors in the year 2020 (2.4 million) to receive a total of 4.8 million tourists in 2021. Since then it has continued to break records, attracting more than 560,000 visitors during the month of May , a growth of 11% compared to May 2018, 6% compared to 2019 and 44% compared to 2021.
“The pandemic posed great challenges for the tourism sector in the Dominican Republic,” reflected Minister Collado. “Now, two years later, we have been able to not only recover, but also build a stronger tourism sector thanks to the support of our partners present at this event, as well as many others around the world and, of course, our health strategy I am delighted with the growth we are seeing, and look forward to welcoming many more visitors to our beautiful country in the years to come.”
Earlier this year, the Dominican Republic was recognized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as the first country in the world in tourism recovery, by Leisure Lifestyle as the best island in the Caribbean and by Wherever Family as the best island in the Caribbean for families.
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