The president of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores), Rafael Blanco Tejera, assured that the sector he represents in the Dominican Republic continues to consolidate in relation to the pre-pandemic statistics caused by Covid-19 and anticipated that the country will close the year with a figure that will reach 7 million tourists
When interviewed on the Encuentro Extra program that is produced on Saturdays by Color Vision, the journalist Cristhian Jiménez, Blanco Tejera stated that according to the data provided, 644,000 tourists arrived in the country last June, which he considered a historic event because similar was achieved by the country in May.
“Today we can say that we have a total recovery, just a few days ago we reached more than 644,000 tourist arrivals in the Dominican Republic, a historical record and for this year we already have projections that we are going to exceed 7 million tourists, which is going to mark the highest arrival in the history of tourism in the Dominican Republic”, said the president of Asonahores.
The head of the entity that groups the hotel and restaurant sector meant that what happened in the Dominican Republic is unique in the world, having a vital impact on the country’s economy.
He recalled that the tourism sector contributes a lot to the Dominican economy. “I think that the one developed by President Luis Abinader has been a great strategy to be able to relaunch our economy, because as we know in the past year we were able to position ourselves for a growth of 12.3% compared to others and as the International Monetary Fund said in the last tourism report.
Rafael Blanco Tejera attributed the success achieved by the country to three factors. The handling of the pandemic by the government, the creation of the health cabinet and the vaccination process that the authorities have implemented since Covid-19 hit the world.
“We handled the pandemic in a very effective way, then the health cabinet led by the vice president was created and according to the Pan American Health Organization we were one of the countries that best performed the pandemic and also the vaccination process, that it was not so in the rest of the world even, . we were better than many developed countries, that gave us the basis to be able to sell the Dominican Republic as a safe country, without that it would not have been possible” she sentenced.
An important element in the recovery was the creation of a health cabinet led by the president of Luis Abinader, who was in charge, together with the Minister of Tourism, of the work to assure tourists that it was safe to come to the Dominican Republic.
Security for the tourist
Although the United States Department of State frequently warns its citizens to be cautious when visiting countries like the Dominican Republic, due to crime, hotel entities have shown that there is the necessary security to come to Vacation with your family.
Among the countries that contribute the most to tourism are, among others, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, Russia and Ukraine “The latter unfortunately due to the war because we lost that important market of some 60,000 Russians and Ukrainians who were arriving in the Dominican Republic prior to the war” .
All inclusive
Blanco Tejera also referred to the “all-inclusive” tourist offer, which he said is divided between expensive and cheap levels, however he defended the system because he understands it is positive for the country.
“It is an operating system in which we have luxury brands and we also have cheap brands, one has one price and the other has others, depending on what one pays, undoubtedly, because it will have a different level of quality and I believe that the tourism sector As for the diversification of the levels and the offer that we have, as well as an evolution of the all-inclusive that has increased its rates, everything depends on what each one can pay. The all-inclusive has been important in the recovery, precisely because of the quality”.
The president of Asonahores said that his associates are regulated and certified by international companies, a positive element when the hotels reopened in the midst of the pandemic.
He revealed that the Ministry of Tourism has presented Qualitur, a seal that will be awarded to establishments with which the quality of their services will be certified, which will further strengthen the sector. “Each client will be able to verify it through a QR code, this will include all affiliated businesses, but we advocate that companies in the sector be regulated so that we offer quality to tourists.”
The president of Asonahores reported that due to the organizational structure and quality, the excursion to Parque del Este is one of the most visited annually.
“We have a very well set up excursion structure and more than a million tourists go every year to visit it. We talk about Saona Island, Bayahibe, Palmilla, but we also see it in the Damajagua waterfall, the Limón waterfall, visits to the Ciudad Colonia or the excursion to see the whales”, among others.
cultural tourism
Tourists who visit the Dominican Republic have a great quality cultural offer.
“We have a great cultural heritage in the Dominican Republic, a great environmental heritage, but we also have other aspects of tourism such as adventure tourism. We see how the entire area of Jarabacoa and Constanza has a tremendous boom in second properties for Dominicans, but also for foreigners who come to retire to that mountain area, but also health tourism that in the pandemic generated more than 200 million dollars of investment, but also the film industry that we had more than 130 thousand visits from professionals,” he indicated.
