Over the years, more people are inclined to do tourism aboard boats to enjoy the adventure of traveling in the waters of the Caribbean Sea. The Dominican Republic, with some 1,288 kilometers of coastline, and its adjacent islands, rivers and reservoirs, is a recreational paradise for nautical tourismbut it requires investment and promotion to exploit this tourist branch.
The country does not have a tourist history of nautical life, however, its coasts occupy a “privileged” place within the Caribbean archipelago and, being part of the Greater Antilles, it enjoys an extensive geography endowed with beautiful landscapes that favor it to position itself as country brand in that tourist region.
For the Dominican-Italian Chamber of Commerce (CCDI), which has a delegation of experts in nautical matters, the country has made significant contributions to the Dominican economy with the creation of quality jobs and with the traffic of tourists who make Stop at Dominican hotels to get to know the country.
could define the nautical tourism recreational as any activity that involves a floating medium and that can be used by man for entertainment or sustenance. kayakstables of surf, kitesurfing, windsurfingsailboats in all their forms and ranges, boats and yachts, are part of the equipment that can be used for such purposes, constituting an important segment of the tourism business.
Diego Fernández, member of the Directive Council of the CCDI, told Free Journal that the development of a strategy is required to strengthen the growth of all these activities of the nautical tourism recreational because it means a direct impact to add to the contribution of the tourism sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country and the generation of jobs.
Boats and their varieties
For 2020, 1,200 tourist transport boats were registered sailing in the Caribbean Sea, but for this year 12,000 were tracked, of which 10,800 are for tourism and 1,200 boats were distributed as follows: 600 sport fishing boats and the another 600 for recreational trips, informed Mauro Caslini, president of IBI Náutica.
He calculated that currently the nautical sector has experienced a growth of 623 boats, of which 120 did not exist. This means that new boats have been built with the characteristics of passenger transport yachts, which strengthens the growth of the industry worldwide.
Caslini, who is an expert in the nautical theme and its development in the country for more than 20 years innovating in the area, considers that the Dominican Republic requires greater promotion and investment in the ports to attract part of the 25,000 ships that cross through the north of the island on its way from the United States to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
In addition, he indicated that there are other types of boats, such as sports boats, that may be interested in making stops in Dominican ports, but more mooring points are needed that are complemented by infrastructures to promote the destination.
Direct and indirect jobs
The representatives of the nautical industry Dominican Republic detailed, during a panel in which they highlighted the history of sailing, the benefits that can be taken advantage of with this type of recreation that directly benefits more than 30,000 families.
In the year 2000, only 1,800 people worked in the sector and today there are three dozen. “It is a dramatic increase in families that earn more than what is established as the minimum wage in the country,” Caslini said.
There are two employees per boat, two or three collaborators per yacht, five people per five-bedroom yacht and 10 when it comes to 50-meter boats that accommodate more sailors per room.
“You have to prepare to face the market and it is an attraction that is developing on its own, but it needs to be regulated to guarantee a safe and attractive destination,” said the expert on nautical issues.
In addition, he reported that the average income of a sailor is about 40,000 pesos, which also boosts the so-called “orange economy” with micro-destinations in different locations in the country.
It is a tourism industry that mobilizes multiple services and stimulates part of the local economy. From the rental of boats and berths, to the repairs and sales of equipment, the presence of training schools or supply industries for visiting boats can be used to create experts in the area.
The Dominican Republic has multiple facilities where you can enjoy nautical activities, and make tours to islands and keys, rent boats with their captains and assistants to practice sport fishing tourism or simply take a coastal walk to enjoy the paradisiacal landscapes of the Dominican Republic. coast.
In that sense, Caslini explained that Saona Island is one of the most visited areas by people who love tourism and that the average cost of each pleasure yacht that stops in Dominican territory each year is approximately 8,000 dollars per month for current expenses, to which is added maintenance, insurance and employees.
“Bayahíbe, located in La Altagracia, for example, has 450 boats on the beach that are used to take tourists to the destination of Saona Island, which is the tourist area most paid by tourists, that is, it is the most expensive attraction and requested by tourists who sail in the waters of the Caribbean Sea,” he said. He calculated that a route to that place is an attraction that would attract economic entry to the province.
