Asonahores projects tourism will break record in foreign investment this year

The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores), Rafael Blanco Tejeda, affirmed that investment flows in the tourism sector maintained continuous increases during the coronavirus pandemic and it is expected that by this year 2022 they will obtain a record history of foreign investment in this sector of the national economy.

The businessman attributed the success to the implementation of a very well thought out, dynamic and cohesive tourism strategy between the public and private sectors. “The positioning that we achieved with the management of the pandemic made us stand out at a global level, but from there what we have done is reinforce the entire tourism strategy,” he added.

He declared that the tourism sector achieved a “formidable” and accelerated recovery that surpasses the other countries in the Region, despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine, according to Despierta con CDN.

“We went through a formidable recovery process, really a process that made us stand out in international markets and that was recognized by the World Tourism Organization, granting us recognition as the country that recovered tourism the fastest,” he said.

He stated that at present, more than recovery, the tourism sector is experiencing moments of growth, due to the fact that “month after month the arrival records are broken” to those that were held in pre-pandemic times.

The new record of tourists received
He gave as an example that in the month of September the country received 431 thousand foreign tourists, breaking the historical record that we had to date. He recalled that 2018 and 2019 were until then the best years for national tourism, with a total of 365 thousand foreign tourists arriving in the Dominican Republic.

In that sense, he maintained that the Dominican Republic has positioned itself in a privileged way in the international market, and pointed out that they are interested in continuing to improve the numbers of foreign investments and tourists who come to the country.

On the other hand, Blanco Tejeda cited the fact that for the first time the Public-Private Marketing Committee was formed, after analyzing jointly with the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur), month after month, the markets that should be improved or replaced by others that present greater or better opportunity.

“For example, the case of Russia and Ukraine. We saw how we were receiving some 60,000 tourists between Russia and Ukraine, which even represented an increase of approximately double what we received in the pre-pandemic. But, in February the war came and the tourists disappeared”, he argued.

He explained that to remedy this problem, the Marketing Committee decided to redirect efforts towards other markets that presented an opportunity. He said that of some 230,000 tourists arriving from France in pre-pandemic periods, more than 180,000 French tourists have been received so far in 2022 and they hope that by the end of the year it will exceed 300,000.

strengthen the markets
He indicated that the Dominican Republic is also strengthening the North American, Canadian and Colombian markets, which, according to what he said, have had remarkable growth. He pointed out that the country maintains a dynamic tourism strategy that day after day is focused and varies depending on what they see working in the market.

On the other hand, he highlighted the creation of the Tourism Cabinet, which he said is one of the most important measures that President Luis Abinader has taken in terms of tourism, because it is directed by the president himself and managed by the Minister of Tourism. .

He pointed out that tourism is a very transversal sector, “because it is not just talking about the hotel, it is not just talking about tourism, it is talking about citizen security, it is talking about the airport, it is talking about transport and all that chain of production that must supply goods and services every day to the tourism sector in order to operate optimally. Tourism also handles the issues of the coast, environment and infrastructure”.

He considered that the Dominican Republic is in the best moment of the tourism industry in all of history and that it only remains to grow in quality and diversification, as well as take tourism to every corner of the national territory.

all inclusive hotels
When asked about the advantages and disadvantages of the “all-inclusive hotels” modality, he said that they decided to resort to this modality because they saw a business opportunity that represents multiple facilities for tourists who come to the Dominican Republic.

The All Inclusive is a type of hotel reservation by which the guest can enjoy all the services of the hotel for a fixed price.

However, he maintained that one of the criticisms made of this type of business is that tourists do not like to leave hotels. However, he denied that this is a problem and stated that the country remains challenged to create the conditions for tourists to want to go out, to have products and services so that tourists have something to do outside of hotels.

In this sense, he said that one of the strategies being implemented by the Ministry of Tourism consists of readjusting public beaches and communities. “We have to have quality security, shops, crafts and excursions. To the extent that we have the products and services, the tourists leave”, he added.