The Government has proposed to revitalize tourism in the North region

The Vice President of the Republic Raquel Peña declared that the government has proposed to revitalize tourism in Puerto Plata and throughout the Cibao through the “Master Plan for Tourism and Economic Development” of the northern region, with which the execution of more than 40 projects.

She stated that in addition to promoting the development of the northern region, her main goal is to improve the quality of life of citizens.

Peña highlighted that the North region during the year 2021 received 22% of foreign investment, which is equivalent to a total of 707 million dollars, mainly in the tourism and free zones sectors.

“The investments will serve as a contribution to the country’s economic growth,” she added.

She explained that from 2020 to date, the government has invested a total of RD$3,776 million pesos for infrastructure projects, construction and adaptation of aqueducts, schools, housing, roads, bridges, hospitals, ports and works in the electricity sector.

“Only for 2022 the public investment programmed for the province of Puerto Plata is 879 million 998 thousand 368 pesos. 25% of these resources have been allocated to the construction and rehabilitation of educational facilities and 15% to the improvement of road infrastructure throughout the province”, he commented.

The vice president took the opportunity to highlight the work of the American Chamber of Commerce and her commitment to promoting the conditions that favor the commercial relationship between the Dominican Republic and the United States.

He stated that total exports attributable to the region stood at 2,481 million dollars in 2021, 19.9% ​​of the total registered at the national level, which represented a 20.2% growth compared to 2020, thanks to the work of the free zones, in particular to the manufacture of tobacco and, also, by the performance of the mining sector.

During the presentation entitled “The northern region: a winning bet in terms of investment”, he emphasized that the northern zone has approximately 30% of the country’s hotel occupancy, and that 20.7% of the tourists received at the national level in 2021 arrived through the airports geographically located in that region, figures higher than the levels prior to the pandemic, according to the president of the Investment Promotion Cabinet.

Similarly, he said that the structure of ports in the area will increase the facilities for the expansion of tourism, to the point that in 2021 69.3% of passenger arrivals through ports nationwide will be concentrated in the northern region, even surpassing the figures of 2019.

The official indicated that the protagonist of this growth has been the Amber Cove port in Puerto Plata and the inauguration in December 2021 of the Taino Bay terminal in the same province, which translates into more than 500 thousand additional cruise passengers in the first nine months of the year 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, these ports representing 75.7% of the total received.

During the meeting, the president of the Puerto Plata Provincial Committee of AMCHAMDR, Román Medina, highlighted the continuous growth of the province in recent years.

“We are champions of the most powerful alliance a country can have: the public-private one,” said Román. “Today we can confidently say that the positioning of Puerto Plata, and repositioning after the pandemic, as a tourist and commercial hub in the Caribbean is the fruit of the combined work of these public-private partnerships,” he concluded.