According to ASONAHORES, media attacks have not reduced investments in Dominican Rep

Paola Rainieri de Díaz, president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (ASONAHORES), said that media attacks in recent months on the tourism offer of the Dominican Republic have not discouraged the process of attracting local and foreign investments in hotel and real estate tourism projects in the country with definitive approval, which this year increased 69% in relation to 2018, and showed an acceleration after last June when the negative information gained strength.

Such words, the president of Asonahores said in the third Investment Forum of that entity that promotes the country’s tourism sector as an attractive destination for local and foreign investment.

Rainieri said that “This year, until the last session of CONFOTUR held on November 21, 78 projects have been approved, with an estimated investment of more than 4,800 million dollars; which indicates that we will have results that exceed those of 2018, since we have 20% more projects and 58% more investment, ”he explained.

If we analyze this investment approval process, he said, considering the possible impact of the situation caused by the unfounded media questions started last May, the behavior of projects with final approval of 2019 exceeded those of 2018.

According to the information offered by Rainieri de Díaz, of the 78 projects approved this year, 49 have the definitive approval that is 69% more than in 2018 that were only 29; and as soon as the investment of these we go from more than 873 million dollars to three billion dollars, an increase of 244%. As for the rooms that will generate these constructions we have 5,168 last year, and 18,768 in 2019, an increase of 263%.

Of the 78 projects known to CONFOTUR in 2019, 74% (58) were processed in the months of July to November, and 31% in October and November, four months after the negative disclosure of the country began. In the months June-September there was a fall in the arrival of tourists; however, in the months October-November 26 projects were known at CONFOTUR, with a cost of more than 740 million dollars

The president of ASONAHORES said that it is very important to highlight that the months July-November, which followed the disclosure of unconfirmed negative information, 58 projects were known, with an investment that exceeds 2 thousand 190 million dollars; of which 25 are hotels with an estimated investment of more than 1.3 billion dollars.

Of the hotels, the largest investment is Spanish in 7 hotels with a cost of more than 521 million dollars and 2,800 rooms. To these are added eight hotels of local investment, three of American investment, two hotels of Venezuelan capital, one Mexican, one Costa Rican and three of mixed Dominican investment with French and Italian.

Also in July November 9 projects of apart hotels and condo hotels with more than 191 million dollars in investment were presented; and 21 real estate proposals with more than 900 million dollars of investment. To these are added four complementary offer proposals, including two theme parks and the expansion of the tourist port of La Romana.

“Seen in this way, the media questioning did not discourage the process of local and foreign investment,” said the president of ASONAHORES, and said that as it has been proved irrefutably that the criticisms were unfounded, “the first signs that it has been recorded started a recovery process ”.

Rainieri de Díaz said that the first encouraging sign is that ASONAHORES has not received reports of paralysis of projects or investment processes that were underway, nor the cancellation of new projected investments; and in this same sense, the progress of the investment approval processes in CONFOTUR provides the information.

Another important sign, he said, is that the Ministry of Tourism has already started the communication campaign to reposition the country; And so is the fact that at the airport of Punta Cana, which receives more than 60% of our tourism, in the period May-November, the highest peak in the fall of the arrival of international tourists occurred in September with 26%, in October we went down to 25% and in November we closed with 16%. “We are confident that this trend will continue,” he said.