The Dominican Republic has been internationally recognized as a country with a successful tourist offer: its natural attractions, combined with its social and cultural assets, have favored the visitor arrivals double the national population, a phenomenon that does not occur among its Latin American peers with greater territorial extension.
Yeah all it’s going so well, what else go on?
The Agency of United Nations for Tourism (UN Tourism) supports the Ministry of Tourism in the creation of a National Sustainable Tourism Strategy.
It is a pioneer instrument in the Americas that would link, in an integral way, the components that are needed to guarantee healthy industry continuity in environmental, social, cultural and economic terms.
“The decision that we value most is that those who manage a successful offering model They have decided not to be inertial; have decided to have the ability to think in terms of the future so that this project can be sustained over time,” he stated. Gustavo Santosregional director for Americas of this agency.
This roadmap -with a first stage projected towards year 2036but with a thirty-year future perspective – represents “an enormous opportunity” to become a model for other countries of the region.
“All countries are, in one way or another, behind this model,” Santos said during a Free Dialoguewhich included the participation of the director of International Development and Cooperation of UN TourismJaime Mayaki; the national coordinator of the strategyLissette Gil, the international coordinator, Veronica Pinilla and the vice minister of International Cooperation of the Ministry of TourismCarlos Peguero.
Eight fundamental axes
The strategy already has its first draftwhich covers eight integrating axes:
- Vision, governance and territorial planning: seeks to strengthen public-private institutions, address the territorial planning and modernize the regulations, including law 158-01 on tourist incentives
- Entrepreneurship, innovation and digitalization: will promote the creation of tourism entrepreneurship ecosystems and innovation sustainable
- Investments and infrastructure: bet on sustainable tourist works and resilient, as well as the development of stimuli and financial instruments
- Environmental sustainability and climate resilience: includes aspects of active conservation, environmental management and critical initiatives
- Heritage, culture and social inclusion: seeks to revalue living heritage and ensure inclusion and accessibility
- Skills and quality: includes the update in the professional technical training
- Tourism products with a purpose: proposes the development of tourism products with territorial specialization and encourages domestic tourism and return
- Positioning: diversifies the strategy of marketing, reimagining the tourism brand to the concept of sustainability.
“This eighth axis is the positioning of the Dominican Republicat this level, as a sustainable destinationinnovator, pioneer and leader in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Pinilla pointed out when detailing the components of the strategy.
Tourism security is also an essential component to guarantee the sustainability of tourism: it contemplates not only human safety, but also environmental aspects such as warning systems for natural disasters and crisis management in the face of natural phenomena, such as cyclones.
For this reason, the National Sustainable Tourism Strategy contemplates, within its vision, governance and territorial planning axis, the implementation of a tourism security plan, as well as the design and implementation of an efficient inspection and surveillance system in each tourist destination.
“The idea is to integrate, strengthen the capacities of local authorities and how to exchange good practices at the local level on this issue,” said Mayaki.
