David Collado holds a meeting with the mayor of Miami to consolidate ties and growth of tourism

According to Collado, Miami is an example of growth in technology, entrepreneurship, and tourism

Miami, United States

The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, held on Thursday a meeting with the mayor of Miami (United States), Francis Suárez, to strengthen ties of friendship and address, among other aspects, how tourism is managed in Miami and the Dominican Republic.

“Far from being Minister of Tourism, I am convinced that I must be an ambassador and knock on doors in all cities that are origin sources of tourists to the Dominican Republic, always thinking of the 500 thousand Dominicans who live and work in this sector in our country,” Collado said before starting the meeting.

Likewise, the Minister of Tourism and Mayor Suárez talked about tourism in the Dominican Republic during the pandemic, its progress, and current health protocols, such as the success of the National Vaccination Plan.

According to Collado, the city of Miami receives more than 500,000 tourists a year. It is an example of growth in technology, entrepreneurship, and tourism and becoming a financial center, so he discussed with Suárez the techniques applied in the city he manages.

This meeting is a prelude to the conference that will take place this Thursday afternoon together with tour operators and travel agencies from the so-called “city of the sun” to present the Dominican tourism offer and the country’s progress in its fight against the pandemic.

Recognition

During the day, the mayor presented Collado with an acknowledgment while expressing the mayor of Miami’s appreciation for the Dominican Republic.

“We have a very special space in our hearts for him, and we have given all the formal tributes that we have at our disposal (…) the Miami community is closely related to the Dominican Republic and for me, being someone who has visited on several occasions, it is very special to be able to receive it,” said Suarez after presenting the award.

At one point, Suarez also claimed to be a fan of the Dominican Republic.

This time, the mayor recognized David Collado as a distinguished visitor to Miami, but this is not the first time he has been honored.

In 2017, when Collado was mayor of the National District, he received the keys to Miami from the former mayor, Tomás Regalado.

During that meeting, a series of joint works was agreed to resume the benefits of a resolution approved by the chapter house that united the cities of Miami and Santo Domingo.

Bring vaccination certificate or health passport

Technological solution would facilitate mobility

The Swiss multinational company SICPA is presenting a new technological tool to the Dominican market that allows issuing a vaccination certification or health passport in order to facilitate the mobility of people without the need to submit to restrictions if they are already vaccinated against covid-19, have a negative test or have recently recovered from the disease.

The Director of Business Development at SICPA, Cédric Pruche, explained that the new Certus technology has credentials available in different formats: such as smart cards, mobile or printed applications, which facilitate the daily scanning of office employees and tickets to massive events. Besides that, it can be very useful for the Dominican tourism sector.

He highlighted that the tool allows certifying three situations: the vaccination status of a person, the results of covid 19 tests, and if a person has already overcome the disease.

He expressed that there are countries that are requiring that people who enter their territory present a covid 19 test, however today there is no way to detect if the results of the PCR tests they present are true or have been manipulated, so Certus offers a “layer” of security in that sense because it is equipped with a highly secure QR code because it cannot be tampered with.

He indicated that Central American countries, as well as the European Union, are raising the need for a “health passport.”

He highlighted the importance of this technology to help the economic reactivation of the country.

Airlines will have more flights to the Dominican Republic

LAS AMERICAS AIRPORT. – Frontier, Copa Airlines, and Aero República airlines announced an increase in their flight operations to provide the country with more seats and facilities for travelers.

The president of the Civil Aviation Board (JAC), Dr. José Marte Piantini, who offered the information, said that the North American airline Frontier requested agency authorization to operate flights on the Punta Cana-San Juan Puerto Rico route.

It indicated that, in the case of Copa Airlines, it also requested an amendment in its air operations in the Dominican Republic, to carry out flights on the Punta Cana-Medellín route, Colombia, as well as Aero-República, requests that were authorized by the Council of the Civil Aviation Board (JAC).

Marte Piantini said that in the case of Aero-República, it would carry out flights not only for passengers but also for cargo twice a week, Colombia-Punta Cana to the East Dominican Republic.

“The increase in international flights to and from the Dominican Republic is a demonstration of the confidence that airlines have in continuing their investments in our country,” said the Civil Aviation Board (JAC) president.

He pointed out that this occurs even when the world is hit by a coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed millions of lives and keeps people of different ages in bed in other countries.

“We continue to be the most reliable destination in Latin America, the Caribbean and other continents, not only for air and tourism investment, but in other areas,” said the government official.

Dominican economy grew 10.6% in March, according to the Central Bank

Preliminary results of the Dominican economy show that it grew 10.6% during March, the Central Bank’s governor reported today.

Héctor Valdez Albizu explained that according to the BCRD forecasting system, real GDP growth is projected for the year 2021, points to a range between 5.5% – 6.0%.

“As of April 26, 2021, the bank has disbursed RD $ 191,876.7 million through different liquidity facilities and repos through financial intermediaries, reaching nearly 90 thousand loans granted,” Valdez Albizu reported.

In addition, he said that as a result of the monetary easing measures, private loans in national currency grew 9.5% year-on-year at the end of March 2021, well above the average for the countries of the Latin American region.

Also, it specified that total exports of goods to March 2021 showed a growth of 7.5%, which meant an increase of US $ 203.1 million. “Particularly, the 12.1% increase in exports from free zones stands out.”

“Remittances maintain their dynamism, reaching the remarkable figure of US $ 994.9 million in the month of March for a year-on-year growth of 91.3%,” the governor pointed out.

Minister of Tourism ensures the country will receive a total of 300,000 visitors in April

Santo Domingo, DR.

The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, highlighted the sustained growth exhibited by the tourism industry and real estate investments in the country in the first four months of this year and assured that April would end with the arrival of more than 300,000 foreign tourists.

He attributed these achievements and the recognition that the Dominican Republic has received because the Government has understood the importance of the public-private alliance.

“Tourism is bigger than each one of us,” said Collado while speaking at the ceremony of the first kick-off of the Panorama Lake real estate complex, which was headed this Wednesday by the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, in Punta Cana.

He affirmed that “with the construction of these 412 one and two-bedroom villas, the economy is invigorated, and it is a clear example of the growth and entrepreneurship that young businesspeople have been exhibiting in the tourist pole of the East, with the determined vision of President Abinader and his cabinet, to recover tourism amid the pandemic.

President Abinader, while agreeing with Minister Collado on the recovery shown by tourism in the first four months of this year, also revealed the growth of the economy in March, reaching 10.6%.

Abinader highlighted the more than 1,000 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect jobs that the project will provide in the three large complexes Panorama Lake, Panorama Park, and Garden, with an investment of more than US$100 million, representing a magical synergy between nature and modernity.

Both the President and Minister Collado highlighted the dimensions of the project that has begun in the exclusive area of Vista Cana at the ceremony attended by a prominent representation of the tourism and real estate business sector, future investors, public-private banks, government officials, and guests.

He also congratulated the Vista Cana project for the respect it shows for the essential bioclimatic characteristics following the indicators for sustainable development.

The President said that “we will not only recover tourism, but we will recover it to levels never seen before in the country.”

This project, Panorama Lake, is being developed with private capital represented by the business conglomerates that make up the Sención Group, of Dominican origin, and the Cohen family of Venezuelan origin, with a presence in the country for more than twelve years.

Guillermo Sención Suárez, CEO of Panorama Lake, affirmed that the three projects to be developed are a sample of the effort of the strategic alliance of the State with the private sector in a bet that occupies the sustainable development of our beloved country.”

These projects include a total of 1,250 residential units for a mix of apartments and individual houses and townhouses of different sizes with the best set of amenities, social and recreational areas.

The first groundbreaking ceremony of the Panorama Lake project was attended by the main executives of Grupo Sención, Salomón Cohen, Jr., Mike Sención, the administrative minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza; the administrator of Banco de Reservas, Samuel Pereyra; senators Ramón Rogelio Genao and Virgilio Cedano; Martina Pepén, governor of La Altagracia; Miguel Sanz Lovatón, director of Customs, representatives and businessmen of the tourism sector and invited guests.

Dominican Republic, Cancun and Jamaica lead the way in Caribbean tourism recovery

Cancun (Mexico), Dominican Republic, and Jamaica are the three destinations leading the tourism recovery in the Caribbean. The effects will be more visible in the winter season that starts next November, said Encarna Piñero, CEO of the Piñero group, one of the Spanish hotel companies with the most prominent presence in the Caribbean.

During Monday’s meetings at the World Tourism Summit, the first event of its kind to be held after the start of the pandemic, Encarna Piñero told Efe that although with entirely different scenarios, these three destinations “are doing very well.”

“Dominican Republic is doing very well, the new government is managing very well in the short term recovery, mobilizing vaccines to employees in the sector. After the good performance of the Dominican Republic, Cancun and Jamaica rebounded, which although initially had a drop now is one of the best performers, there is no regular behavior of the three destinations but I think Cancun is the one that will rebound more,” she added.

For Encarna Piñero, the global tourism industry will experience two critical moments for recovery in the coming months, the first one due to the massive vaccination in the United States and the second one in Europe.

“This will generate a wave of confidence in the entire sector, in all tourism, and the moment that Europe has a higher percentage of vaccination, the influx to the Caribbean will be noticed,” she said.

“We are waiting, we think we are improving, in the short term we are improving, we are hopeful that when the United States finishes the vaccination in July there will be an increase in reservations to all Caribbean destinations because they are the preferred destinations for North Americans,” she said.

However, although there is optimism and slow recovery, Encarna Piñero recognizes that there is a lot of caution among hotel business people because, at this time, the objective of the companies is no longer to seek profits but to maintain the sustainability of the companies and the stability of their workers.

“We will not open all the hotels. We will be at 70 percent with respect to 2019. With all this we have changed the scale of values, we were not prepared to close, we are prepared to open and manage, but we had to close in fifteen days 15,000 rooms and then you pose this for how much is it, two months, three months, fifteen thousand employees, what do we do,” she added.

As part of this “orderly restructuring” that they were forced to do, they found that segments such as golf and housing in high-value tourist areas are experiencing an unexpected boom.

“Now we are focused on helping each business to have its own rhythm, real estate and golf have been doing better than hotels, we have helped them to have a growth rhythm, the residential part has surprised us and that is because many people now want to live outside the big cities, there is a spectacular increase in sales,” she commented.

Collado affirms US travel alert does not affect rate of tourist arrivals

PROJECTIONS OF REACHING 300 THOUSAND TOURISTS PER MONTH REMAIN FIRM

To the alert message issued last Wednesday by the United States, which asks its citizens not to travel to the Dominican Republic because of the high level of Covid-19, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, responded that the ban does not affect the Dominican Republic and that the country has the lowest lethality rate in Latin America, including the US, for the referred disease.

“So, this does not affect us, we continue to move forward, reservations continue to arrive and the report from hoteliers is that reservations continue to arrive. on Thursday alone 10,111 tourists entered the country and that the industry has been getting stronger every day, thanks to the good management of the pandemic,” he revealed.

“This must be clarified. We came to the Government and the Dominican Republic was in the number four place in the State Department and the work done by the present Government made our country drop to the number three place, and at the time that happened we had some numbers per Covid-19 higher than now,” said Collado.

He added: “What is happening now. We were number three in the State Department, but we were number four in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and what the United States did was that, eighty percent of the countries standardized the figure with the CDC, and since we were four in CDC and three in the State Department, it was standardized to four.”

The minister clarified that the decision taken by the United States was not only against the Dominican Republic but for 80 countries and that nations such as Mexico went to level five.
He also stated that the projections of reaching 300,000 tourists per month remain firm and that the industry has been getting stronger every day, thanks to the excellent management of the pandemic.

67% of Americans plan to travel this summer

REPRESENTS AN INCREASE OF 17% COMPARED TO SPRING

The so-called ‘Summer Travel Index 2021’ reveals that, with each passing day, travel is making a comeback in the United States.

Thus, almost half of Americans – 43% – believe that travel activity will recover in three months, as analyzed in a recent survey.

With Americans no longer settling for local vacations and travel, it seems like true vacation getaways are coming back into vogue.

More than two-thirds of Americans; Specifically, 67%, plan to travel this summer (from June 1 to August 31), representing an increase of 17% compared to those who said they would travel this spring (from March 1 to May 31).

Millennials are the most excited to go out again, with the vast majority (72%) of generation planning trips—although many plan to drive a car to their destination (43%), 19% plan to fly, which is 4% more than this spring.

Compared to the first week of January, hotel searches increased 65%, experience searches (attractions and tours) increased 78%, and restaurant searches rose 53%.

It is indicated that, of those who plan to travel, 74% of Americans will make a domestic trip, and 13% will travel abroad.

Citizens are ready for a more extended break, with 29% taking a week-long trip and 28% planning their vacations for ten days.

The most popular travel weeks are beginning June 21 and June 28, scheduled around Independence Day.

53% of Americans plan to spend more on travel this year than last summer, rising to 66% for millennials.

Globally, Americans are the biggest spenders in the summer, planning to shell out 9% more than the average world traveler.

The Amber tourist highway project is declared of public interest

HE GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS (DGAPP)

The General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships ( DGAPP ) released Resolution 03-2021, issued by the National Council of Public-Private Partnerships ( CNAPP ), which declares the private initiative Autopista del Ámbar submitted by the commercial company APP Quisqueya of public interest, as its execution is considered pertinent and convenient.

In the said resolution, the CNAPP decides to continue with the highway construction project under the private initiative modality and specifies that “as of the date of issuance of this resolution, no initiative on the same subject,” according to a press release.

Likewise, it indicates that it is decided to recognize the company APP Quisqueya as a private originator of the initiative following the terms agreed to by Law 47-20 on APP and states that this company must present the feasibility studies are required to validate the environmental, technical, legal, economic, and financial viability of the initiative.

It adds that the studies will be presented within a period that will be established before the beginning of the expression of interest and that the corresponding quotes and invoices must accompany them.

In the resolution, the CNAPP requests the executive director of Public-Private Partnerships, Sigmund Freund, to coordinate with the contracting authority to structure the specifications, the draft of the public-private partnership contract, and other documents necessary for the performance of the competitive process selection of awardee.

The documents must be submitted to the approval of the CNAPP, respecting the term stipulated by article 47 of the Regulation of Application of Law No. 47-20.

One of the recitals of the resolution specifies that the private initiative Autopista del Ámbar comprises: the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a 32.7-kilometer-long toll road that will connect the tourist province of Puerto Plata and Santiago in less than thirty (30) minutes.

The work consists of a 3.65-meter, four-lane expressway, two in each direction, with a central median of 6 meters with two internal walkways and four central meters to place the ditch and metal railings and 2.40-meter side walkways, with berms on the one-meter fillings for the placement of protective metal railings, to travel safely at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

The construction project is added to the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a tunnel, design, bridges, overpasses, a toll system, and drainage and lighting work.

The DGAPP highlighted in the statement that, among the benefits that the construction of the Amber Highway will have in the tourism sector, the approach of the Atlantic coast to the city of Santiago would allow increasing the number of commercial flights available and competition between airports.

Likewise, they explain that the offer of activities and tourist trips from cruise ships and hotels to Santiago and other tourist spots will increase, in addition to allowing the relaunch and positioning of the Atlantic coast, as a thriving tourist hub, generating new hotel investments and improving the quality of the offer.

Pre-feasibility studies show that the highway will save RD $ 411.00 in toll payments and an average time saving of 56 minutes.

The execution of the work under the PPP model will allow the private sector to contribute its capacity for innovation, entrepreneurship, and financial ability to develop a project in a shorter time and budget, said the DGAPP in a note sent to the media.

He said that the methodology would allow mitigating the main risks that large infrastructure projects have. He mentions reducing the risk of cost overruns, overdue periods, and demand and ensuring the execution of an economically independent project.

Protocols guide tourist recovery in the DR: attracts 700 thousand visitors as of March 2021

ACCORDING TO DATA FROM THE CENTRAL BANK

According to the Central Bank, the Dominican Republic received 717 thousand 85 tourists in the first quarter of this year, 2021, 48.5% less than in the same stage of 2020.

According to data from the bank, from January to March of last year, one million 352 thousand 459 visitors arrived in the country, which shows that it is still far from reaching the pre-Covid-19 numbers.

In March, 313 thousand 289 tourists arrived in Dominican territory, 16% higher than March 2020, when the pandemic began in the country, and only 270 thousand 49 were received.

The data also indicates that the arrival of visitors in March is related to the tourism recovery plan applied by the Government since last year and the application of health protocols, tax relief, and financial and monetary measures.

Likewise, almost half of the tourists who arrived in the country in the first quarter of the year came from the United States with 295,453 visitors.

They were followed by Ukraine, where tourists added 22,604 visitors between January and March. In third place as a tourist source to the Dominican Republic was Colombia, with 15,711 visitors in the first quarter of the year.

The countries from which tourists traditionally arrive are still under restrictive travel measures due to Covid-19. From Canada, where almost 340,000 visitors came in the first quarter of 2020, just over 6,000 Canadians arrived this year.

Dominican SE city becomes home port for cruise tourism

La Romana.- The southeastern Dominican city as of August 15 will emerge as a home port for cruise tourism, which would generate about US$320 more per cruise passenger to the Dominican economy.

Since the beginning of 2020, after the closure of ports in March due to the pandemic, the Dominican Republic does not receive cruise tourists, who generated the country about US$80 per person being only transit.

Now, the projected is that a cruise passenger who will start a trip to some Caribbean islands departing from La Romana will generate around US$400.

Dominican Port Authority (Apordom) director Jean Luis Rodríguez said the “home port ” modality in cruises is the most desired by any tourist destination because a route would start and end here, which in this case It is from the Norwegian international line.

Covid vaccine first dose lowered to 65 year-olds

Santo Domingo.- Public Health on Thur. expanded the coverage of the second phase of vaccination against Covid-19 by reducing the age to receive the first dose to 65, while simultaneously completing the second dose.

The start of the second phase reactivated the vaccination centers and even several new ones were opened to speed up the process and decongest the existing ones.

The enthusiasm with which people attended the vaccination centers in marginalized sectors was remarkable.

U.S. tourism activates return to Dominican Republic: 300,000 visitors expected this month

DOMINICAN GOVERNMENT PROJECTS IMPORTANT RECOVERY OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

 DR already has more than 50 percent of its hotels operating again

 ECLAC points to a 6% growth in the country’s economy this 2021

The most prominent tourist source in the Dominican Republic, the United States, is reactivating its arrivals to this Caribbean destination, which represents a significant step forward in recovering the Dominican tourism industry, which is still awaiting the reopening of flights from the important Canadian source market.

Regarding the American tourist, President Luis Abinader  indicated that “we are in the process of recovering tourism, we have about 300,000 tourists, mainly North American, estimated to arrive in this month of April.”

Speaking at the forum of the thirteenth Ibero-American Business Meeting, held in Andorra before the inauguration of the XXVII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, Abinader explained that the country already has more than 50 percent of the hotels open, “I believe that we are going to have an important economic recovery,” he pointed out.

Predictions made by credit organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund and ECLAC, point to a growth of six percent this year in the Dominican Republic.

The head of state also indicated that with social programs, such as Phase 1 and Phase II, to incentivize companies and avoid unemployment, as well as the ‘Stay at Home’ program, aimed at informal merchants, the government succeeded in making the poverty will only increase by 1.9%.

“Our goal is to try to recover the level we had before the pandemic in one year,” he said.

Dominican tourism recovers, slowly

Santo Domingo.- The number of tourists that arrived in the Dominican Republic last March was 313,289, the best figure since December, but still below the regular number of visitors the country received before the pandemic.

Last month’s result represents a 16% growth compared to March 2020, when only 270,049 tourists were received due to the total closure of the borders that the Government ordered on March 19 of that year as a way to stop the contagion in Dominican territory.

Dominican tourism accumulates a 48.5% drop in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the accumulated result from January to March last year.

Data from the Central Bank indicate that 1,352,459 tourists arrived in the first three months of 2020, while in the same period of this year 717,085 visitors came to the Dominican Republic.

Punta Cana records high demand of U.S. travelers for the summer

According to a new report from CheapOair, Punta Cana is experiencing strong demand for summer travel among U.S. travelers.

The online travel agency indicated that Punta Cana, the travel hub of the Dominican Republic, is experiencing considerable demand, positioning the country as one of the main hubs for tourism in the Caribbean.

And no wonder, since the Punta Cana airportconcentrates more than half of the reservations made to date to arrive in the second quarter of the year, informed the Minister of Tourism, David Collado.

In addition to the positive performance of airline ticket reservations, there has been a good performance in the index of short and long-term room reservations per night in all areas of the country, where the volume of room sales per night for stays in the next 30 days has reached historic highs for Punta Cana.

Meanwhile, Cancun also stands out as a Caribbean vacation destination among its U.S. traveler base and the third most popular destination overall after Miami and Las Vegas.

“According to Transportation Security Administration data, passengers passing through U.S. airports in March consistently exceeded one million per day. That’s a significant increase from just a month ago and demonstrates America’s growing willingness to travel,” stated Sam Jain, CEO of CheapOair’s parent company, Fareportal.

According to the report, both destinations are seeing strong demand from couples, who account for 63% of all bookings for the Caribbean destination in the summer. In comparison, individual travelers comprise 15% of bookings.

Abinader at the UNWTO: “Our great objective is to recover tourism”

THE PRESIDENT VISITED THE TOURIST ORGANIZATION IN THE FRAMEWORK OF HIS OFFICIAL TRIP TO SPAIN

 They seek to coordinate policies to promote the reactivation of the tourism industry.

 The Head of State thanked the support received by the UNWTO.

The President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, met with the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO ), Zurab Pololikashvili, at the agency’s headquarters to coordinate policies focused on recovering the tourism sector in the Dominican Republic.

“It is excellent to open a hotel, a new hotel chain, but you have to know that, in our case, our true objective is the hundreds of thousands of men and women who earn their living from tourism honestly and with dignity every day. And that this pandemic cut off part of this activity, of their income,” said the president.

Likewise, he reaffirmed that the government’s responsibility is to achieve the recovery of this sector and its people.

At the meeting, the Dominican head of state thanked the UNWTO for its support to recover tourism. He appreciated the entity’s commitment to accompany other countries to design the best policies and bring the confidence needed to recover tourism.

During the meeting, Abinader was accompanied by the Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez and the director of ProDominicana, Biviana Riveiro.

In the end, the ruling develizó a plaque, which, together with the Dominican shield, renders accounts of the president’s visit to the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization on Sunday, April 18, 2021.

It is recalled that President Luis Abinader is on an official trip to Spain, with an exhausting schedule and work meetings in search of strengthening ties between nations.

Innovative projects to reactivate the tourism sector will be supported with financing

Santo Domingo, DR

Banco de Reservas and the Dominican Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores) signed a collaboration agreement to support and promote the reactivation of tourism in the Dominican Republic and promote the sustainable development of the communities involved.

Samuel Pereyra, general manager of the financial institution, and Rafael Blanco Tejera, president of Asonahores, signed the agreement that will make the Banreservas portfolio of services available to the public, which includes the Happy Vacations program and the DR Safe Tourism Assistance Plan for visitors.

The bank will also back innovative proposals and projects with financing that, once evaluated, demonstrate the potential to contribute decisively to the sustainable development of tourist communities.

“This agreement has as its focal point the implementation of joint actions, to increase the number of tourists who visit us, contributing to provide them with a better service, supporting the improvement and creation of new hotel structures, offering economic support to investors in the tourism sector, among other initiatives,” said Pereyra.

Concrete actions

The president of Asonahores said that as the primary representative of the national tourism industry, the Association shares the vision of President Luis Abinader to promote and strengthen with concrete actions the sustainable development of the sector.

Among these initiatives, Rafael Blanco Tejera cited the Tourism Recovery Plan proposed by the State, which assumes “with responsibility and enthusiasm an active and conciliatory role in all the tourism events of the Dominican Republic.”

He said that it is “of special interest to Asonahores the development of different studies that help strengthen and promote tourism investment in the Dominican Republic, and also reflect the impact on the value chain within the national economy, to promote greater economic development and sustainability in terms of quality and availability of national production.”

The agreement between Banreservas and Asonahores will also promote financial inclusion, banking penetration, and other actions aimed at fostering innovative entrepreneurship through talks and workshops on financial education for hotel and restaurant personnel.

Dominican Republic showcases its tourism potential to U.S. travel agencies

THE COUNTRY HOSTS FOR THE FIRST TIME THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF TRAVEL PLANNERS INTERNATIONAL

 About 80 agency owners participate in the event in Punta Cana

 Health protocols applied by this Caribbean destination stand out

The Dominican Republic is hosting, for the first time, the Travel Planners International / Tour Operator American Airlines Vacations Annual Conference, which takes place April 14-18, 2021, in the eastern region of the country.

With the participation of around 80 travel agency owners and consultants, vacation sales leaders in different cities of the United States, the event’s main objective is to learn more about the Quintana Roo destination to promote it.

The event is being held at The Grand Reserve At Paradius Palma Real by Meliá Punta Cana. They develop a comprehensive plan for promoting the Dominican Republic with the Office of Tourism Promotion (OPT) in New York.

The Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) made the presentation of the country with the purpose that the travel agents participating in the event, know better the tourist, cultural, religious, leisure, and shopping attractions, as well as the security and implementation and development of protocols provided by the authorities in the handling of the Covid-19, which is affecting the world at this time.

Amelia Rodriguez, the representative of Travel Planners International, expressed that this is the first time this event has been held in the Dominican Republic and that it was chosen, not only for its beauty but also for its health protocols and its clients to see that it is possible to travel.

“As a result of the pandemic, after a visit last December by our vice president of sales to the American Airlines Vacations summit in the Dominican Republic, we thought of a perfect place to hold this event, and that is why we chose this country,” she said.

She also indicated that the event seeks to show the agents the beauty of the country, its great attractions, the warmth and friendliness of the people, and the great diversity of tourism offerings so that they can sell more to the Dominican Republic.

Travel Planners International is an agency in Orlando, Florida, and has more than 4 thousand agents throughout the United States; it has ten years, making this event where the most valuable agents are recognized, who produce more than $500,000 a year.

Among the activities to be developed by the travel agents is the integration to the community with the program sponsored by the Meliá hotel, “Travelers with a cause,” where the guests make contributions to the local and sponsored community with the donation of objects of high need (personal hygiene, sports, recreational and clothing items), and thus connect the part of the trips with the contribution that tourism can make to the development of the municipalities.

It will be directed to children between 4 and 16 years of age of the “Foundation for a better world for homeless children” in the community of Higüey.

The Travel Planners International conference participants arrived in the country through the Punta Cana International Airport, where they were welcomed to the rhythm of merengue by the Mitur Folkloric Ballet, directed by Professor Oscar Batista.

Spanish carrier announces 5 weekly flights to Punta Cana

Santo Domingo.- The Spanish airline Evelop, of the Ávoris Corporación Empresarial, plans to increase to five weekly flights on its Madrid-Punta Cana route, starting in the summer, as part of the rise in the demand of travelers from that European nation to the country and thanks to the effectiveness of the health protocols applied in the Dominican tourism sector.

As of June 2021, the new plans also include the opening of three weekly flights from Portugal, two from Lisbon and one from O’Porto, with 400-seat aircraft, “which endorses Ávoris’ firm commitment to the destination,” said Fernando Bravo, commercial director of the company.

Bravo labeled the opening of the new flights as a step to study other alternatives to integrate Santo Domingo and add other provinces to Ávoris plans, “given the potential for domestic tourism and natural resources that the Caribbean country has, aspects that attract Spanish tourists.”

Dominican Republic reopens gradually by decree

Santo Domingo.- It has been exactly one year and one month since the first state of emergency and the curfew were established in the Dominican Republic as a result of the COVID-19 virus.

Since March 19 and between the mandates of the governments of Danilo Medina and Luis Abinader, various decrees have been issued where the general reopening of activities and freedoms of citizens are made more flexible.

After then president Medina ordered the first curfew for 15 days from March 20, 2020 to April 3, a ban on the transit and movement of people was established from 8pm, and until 6am, by decree 135-20.