Tourism Cabinet of the Dominican Republic meets to analyze the state of the sector

Hotel executives and representatives of tourism associations and clusters took stock of the situation of the industry in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the projections for the year that has just begun, in a first working meeting headed by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado.

In this first meeting of the year of the Tourism Cabinet with the entities of the sector and hotel businessmen, the achievements and actions implemented by the public-private alliance were analyzed and that have given positive results in the gradual recovery of the industry without chimneys, as well as the application and compliance with the health protocols implemented in the sector.

Regarding the meeting, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, was satisfied with the positive results of the alliance with the private sector, of which he stated “we have worked shoulder to shoulder as if we were the same body and the same institution.”

Collado introduced the hoteliers to each of the Mitur officials in order for them to have a closer relationship and to present their suggestions and needs.

When reiterating his support for hoteliers, the Minister of Tourism emphasized that “we are fully convinced that, if you do well, the Ministry, the country and the Government, and that we must make every effort to recover our tourism” .

The official also announced a second meeting for next February 9 to continue taking stock of the sector’s situation and actions for the sustained recovery of tourism.

Andrés Marranzini, vice president of ASONAHORES, highlighted on his side, as “transcendent” putting important issues on the agenda for discussions, such as the changes generated in the issuing countries, as well as conjunctural situations that must be agreed upon for the benefit of the sustained recovery of the sector .

When briefly explaining the situation in the hotel sector, Judit García, president of the Santo Domingo Hotel Association, stated that 95 percent of the city’s hotel plant is operating following all the guidelines in the protocols, certified by Bureau Veritas.

Meanwhile, Jesús Durán, president of the Samaná Tourism Cluster, defined the Dominican Republic as “a health paradise” in relation to the reality that the world is experiencing regarding the effects of the pandemic.

However, he advocated that the country continue with the contagion prevention measures of Covid-19 and “working hard to continue with the privileged situation that we have as a country with respect to the rest of the world.”

At this first working meeting of the Tourism Cabinet with hoteliers and tourism clusters, held in the spacious Flamboyán room in Casa de Campo, executives from the country’s hotel chains attended such as Ramón Roselló, manager of Inverotel; Daniel Hernández, CEO of AM Resorts; Jorge Subero, president of Cap Cana and Simón Suárez, representing the Punta Cana Group, among other top businessmen.

Other entities in the sector were Ernesto Veloz, president of the Association of Hotels of the East ASOLESTE; Juan Bancalari, president of the Association and Tourist Companies of Samaná; Roberto Casoni, for the Puerto Plata Tourism Cluster.

The Mitur was attended by the honorary advisor Rafael Blanco Blanco Canto; the Vice Minister of Destination Management, Patricia Mejía, the Director of CEIZTUR, Sixto Brea and Roberto Henríquez, Vice Minister of Quality, among other officials.