Abinader on the anniversary of Asonahores: “The best of tourism is yet to come”

The Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic ( Asonahores ) celebrated its 60th anniversary on Tuesday night and did so with a recognition to the Tourism Cabinet, chaired by President Luis Abinader, after the actions to recover the industry without finalizing the Covid-19 pandemic.

Investment in the last year of US$950 million and generation of more than US$7,000 billion are numbers cited by Rafael Blanco Tejera, president of Asonahores, which position the Dominican Republic as one of the most thriving economies in Latin America.

“Today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of our Asonahores and we do it at the best moment of the recovery of our sector, with a record in the arrival of tourists, an extraordinary hotel occupancy, with the restoration of jobs and enthusiastic to work hand in hand with the president Abinader, Minister David Collado,” said Blanco Tejera.

Asonahores made up of some 200 partners, reviewed its journey from 1960 to date: from 5,900 rooms and 15,000 jobs in the early years to 85,000 rooms and more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs today.

President Abinader, who received the recognition with Minister Collado, projected that the tourism figures would improve with the pending projects for the coming years.

“The best times for tourism are yet to come in the Dominican Republic.” And he justified his pronouncement with the projects that are carried out under public-private partnerships: the remodeling of the Colonial City in Santo Domingo; the consolidation of Punta Cana, the relaunch of Puerto Plata, and the Cabo Rojo project in Pedernales, where the arrival of the first tourists is expected in November 2023.

The record figures in the arrival of non-resident foreigners have generated an abundance of the dollar, which has caused the stabilization of external debt in June at 62% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the head of state.

In addition to Abinader, Collado, and the executives of Asonahores, the activity was attended by the leading businessmen of the tourism industry, State servants, and other personalities.

Dominican Gov. thanks Canada for mine rescue

Santo Domingo.- President Luis Abinader thanked the Canadian authorities on Monday for their cooperation in rescuing two miners trapped in the Cerro de Maimón mine.

After Gregory Alexander Méndez Torres (Dominican) and Carlos Yépez (Colombian) were rescued on Tuesday, the president thanked the Prime Minister of the Government of Canada, Justin Trudeau.

“We thank @JustinTrudeau, Prime Minister of the Government of Canada, for his quick response to our request for help; which facilitated the rescue of miners trapped in the Cerro de Maimón mine. Thank you very much on behalf of the Dominican people! #MinersRescate.”

Wingo airline will open flight between Panama and Santo Domingo

Wingo announced the launch of two new routes: Panama – Havana, and Panama – Santo Domingo, thus boosting the supply of flights between Central America and the Caribbean by being the only low-cost airline to offer both routes.

The flight to Havana will take off on September 3, 2022, when Wingo will offer close to 3,000 seats per month between the two routes. Likewise, the route between Panama and Santo Domingo will have its inaugural flight on October 6, with 3,000 seats per month between both routes.

In addition, the airline contemplates in its expansion plan and its itinerary until May 2023 a 20% growth in its flight offer, which goes from March 30 to May 16, 2023, and includes 2,168 flights that mean a bid of 403 thousand seats.

The new flights are already available for sale since last Friday, August 5, 2022, offering 682 additional flights in the domestic market, represented by 17 thousand seats.

This figure is due to the launch of new routes within Colombia, such as the Bogotá-Armenia route, as well as the increase in capacity on domestic trunk routes such as Bogotá-Medellín and Bogotá-Cartagena.

On the other hand, Wingo will launch 1,486 new flights in the international market, totaling 276 thousand available seats, representing a 31% increase in global travel possibilities.

This increase is based on the launch of new international routes such as Medellín – Aruba, and Medellín – Havana, as well as a series of capacity increases on routes connecting Bogotá with Panama and San José, Costa Rica, as well as Santo Domingo and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. In addition, frequency increases were also made from Medellín to Santo Domingo and Panama.

“Now our itinerary is available until May 2023; an itinerary with more and more alternatives for those travelers who enjoy the Wingo experience and prefer a Buena Onda alternative, on time and at low fares. This network expansion is evidence of the airline’s growth, since today we offer 193% of the seats we had published prior to the pandemic, which ratifies the relevance, convenience and preference of the low-cost model,” said Jorge Jiménez, Wingo’s Commercial and Planning Director.

In this sense, Wingo reiterates the good moment of recovery that the Colombian airline industry is going through, which shows increasing demand for travelers, both domestically and internationally. As a result, the airline expects to close in 2022 with 2.5 million passengers transported and an operating fleet of nine aircraft.

Airline ticket prices increased by 23.69% in July in July

Airline ticket prices increased by 23.69% in the month of July, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.

The report highlights that the transportation sector, with an increase of 0.61%, was the group that contributed the most to July’s inflation, which was recorded at 0.50%, lower than that registered in June.

In detail, the increase in this sector was influenced not only by the increase in airline tickets, which contributed 18% of the CPI variation but also by the increase in the price of public bus fares, which rose by 0.69%.

In addition, the price of motoconchos increased 0.23%, vehicle repair services increased 0.72%, automobiles increased 0.19%, vehicle washing increased 0.94%, and lubricants and oils increased 1.44%.

The Central Bank’s report highlights that the index of the Transportation group was not of greater magnitude due to the fuel subsidies implemented by the Government, which have avoided an overflow of the general inflation.

Up to June, according to Acento, the Government invested RD$ 25 billion in fuel subsidies.

Travel queries through Google increase

Search giant Google stated that there had been an increase in travel-related queries in the last year. For example, searches for “cheapest countries to visit” increased by 7000% between February 22 and April 22 this year compared to the same period in 2021.

Between December 28, 2021, and February 25, 2022, searches for “entry requirements” increased by 600%, and searches for “book a flight” increased by 70% compared to last year.

In last week’s Q2 earnings report from parent company Alphabet, Google senior vice president and chief business officer Philipp Schindler said searches for places to visit in the summer increased 2X globally in Q2 compared to a year earlier, and searches for last-minute hotel deals were up 50%.

For partners such as airlines and hotels, the increase in search activity is a positive sign but still requires a strategy to determine how to convert that consumer interest into bookings.

Some data tools Google offers its partners include Google Trends, Destination Insights with Google, Flight Demand Explores, and Mobility Reports.

For Google, increased search activity translates into revenue, which rose 14% in the second quarter to $40.7 billion, “driven by both travel and retail,” according to Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat.

Meanwhile, Susie Vowinkel, Google’s general manager of global travel, said that “what we’ve learned over the last two years is that it’s been really hard to predict where people are going to travel, how many people are going to travel, and what constraints might prevent or enhance it.”

“What we’re really trying to do is help our partners be able to be able to capture that demand without having to know exactly what those things are that they need to anticipate and just be prepared to capture it naturally as it comes back,” he added.

He said travel partners successfully captured post-pandemic demand using strategies with three common characteristics: knowledge-driven, data-driven, and agile.

Looking ahead, Vowinkel maintains that Google will continue to develop travel tools to assist partners and help consumers make travel decisions. One of the updates just launched is Things to Do. Following the addition of booking links last fall to the “Things to Do” platform, the system is now integrated into Maps, so consumers can compare and access booking links for tours, activities, and attractions directly in the Maps app (currently only on iOS).

He said Google is also very interested in sentiment related to business travel and will be releasing custom research on global trends later this year.

Foreign direct investments reach historical figures

The Export and Investment Center of the Dominican Republic (ProDominicana) reported that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) reached US$1,870.9 million between January and June 2022.

This represents an expansion of 8.0 % compared to the same period of 2021 and 20% compared to the first half of 2019, pre-pandemic.

Biviana Riveiro, executive director of ProDominicana, said, “The growth experienced in foreign direct investment in the Dominican Republic is an indicator of investor confidence in our economy. And to a large extent, we can attribute this expansion to the climate of social, economic, and political stability that we have maintained, combined with actions of openness and facilitation for investment.”

He also indicated, “Thanks to the efforts and strategies of promotion of the country that we are carrying out, our expectations of attracting FDI represent an amount equivalent to US$3.5 billion by the end of the year.”

Riveiro pointed out that we are constantly working to attract more and better investments and that the growth experienced in investment is consistent with the dynamization of the portfolio of services offered by ProDominicana.

In this regard, from January-June 2022, the institution offered 179 assistance services to investors and potential investors to install, develop, and expand investment projects.

Likewise, in the first half of the year, 13 new investment projects were established. In addition, the expansion of investments based in the country and participation in five international FDI attraction events were also promoted.

The sectors that mobilized the most significant flow of FDI from January to June 2022 are tourism, commerce and industry, mining, and real estate.

Among the countries from which the most significant amount of investments came are the United States, Canada, and Mexico, respectively.

It should be noted that the data provided by ProDominicana comes from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. For more details, you can review the Data market platform that ProDominicana makes available to the public.

Government to refurbish 25 beaches for more than 3 billion pesos

President Luis Abinader and the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, headed the launching ceremony of the National Plan of Reorganization, Regeneration, Training, and Financing for Associations and Informal Beach Vendors.

In this plan, more than 3,000 million pesos will be invested in renovating some 25 beaches and providing training and financing for the benefit of hundreds of families residing in these tourist areas.

The Minister of Tourism expressed that as part of the plan, the small merchants who operate on the beaches to be intervened will receive the transformation of their spaces and training on the quality of their services, improving their economy and that of their families, with a vision of urban planning that will attract more tourists.

He said that more than 3,000 beach vendors from all over the country have recovered their sales and are part of the renovation and reorganization of these tourist spaces.

“And we initiated a program in which we are going to refurbish 25 beaches, and today we are in Macao, in Miches, Guayacanes I and II, Las Galeras, Los Patos, and we are going to Palenque, Puerto Plata and all the beaches of the country with a budget of more than 3 billion pesos,” he proclaimed.

“I want to express the pride and satisfaction I have in working with President Luis Abinader, the man who has supported tourism the most in the history of the country,” Collado expressed.

The activity took place at the San Lazaro Club, where tour guides, small business owners, and representatives of associations of these coastal areas from all over the country participated.

At the event, President Abinader received recognition from the vendors’ associations.

The U.S. consolidates its position as the Dominican Republic’s largest tourist source with more than 50% of arrivals

The goose that lays the golden eggs of Dominican tourism is the United States, and that has many reasons, the first of which is the proximity, the connection from the cultural point of view, the country’s ability to connect with the type of food they seek, the service they demand, and the Dominican connects very well with the American tourist, they feel very comfortable, there are many facilities, and there are no major cultural disparities.”

This was stated by the executive vice-president of Asonahores, Andres Marranzini. They revealed that the United States currently contributes more than 50% of the total number of tourists visiting the Dominican Republic.

“So there are many elements, but the main thing is the proximity, at the end of the day, from the East Coast we have flights from one hour 40 minutes to 4 hours and a half, and in that entire coastline there must be 100 million potential American visitors, and that continues to be our north, and we are doing very well, better than everyone in the Caribbean,” he clarified.

As for the European market, Marranzini said that the collapse of the euro against the U.S. dollar had not had a negative impact on the arrival of tourists from the European continent.

He explained that they have been monitoring the movement of the dollar-euro, and in the past, when the euro lost value against the US currency, European tourism decreased, but this has not been the case this time.

The business leader said that the Dominican Republic had received the volume of European tourists projected for the current year.

Arajet, a great challenge for US airlines due to its low cost

“With the new state-of-the-art Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that Arajet will use, when this competition enters the domestic market with these high levels of catchment and will have the capacity to move high passenger traffic, there is no doubt that it will be reflected in the low cost of fares.”

This was stated by the interim director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC), Héctor Porcella, who said that the new operations would be a great challenge for the major U.S. airlines operating in the country, such as American Airlines, JetBlue, Delta, United Airlines and Spirit, which will have to adjust their business scheme.

The official explained that the investment made by Arajet is extremely substantial after pointing out that a single airplane that will operate will cost between 80 and 100 million dollars.

Porcella said that the airline projects that it will start its operation this August with five aircraft at the end of this year, and in the next five years, it will incorporate a fleet of 45 aircraft, according to Listín Diario.

“Gentlemen, we are talking about an investment of more than one billion dollars, only in airplanes, without including fuel and operational expenses and other economic items,” he said.

The head of the IDAC reminded that civil aviation goes hand in hand with the development of tourism, and in this aspect, the institution in its present management has offered all the facilities of bureaucratic procedures so that the new airlines can be certified in the shortest possible time.

Dominican Embassy projects Dominican cigars and rum in the U.S.

Santo Domingo, D.R.
The Dominican Ambassador in Washington, Sonia Guzman, during the traditional celebration of the “Dominican Cigar and Rum Night,” highlighted that at this moment the Dominican Republic is the first premium cigar exporting country in the world.

“Cigars are also art and culture, for this reason President Luis Abinader presented a bill to declare tobacco and cigars in particular as Dominican Cultural Heritage, a bill that has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies,” informed the diplomat.

She also pointed out that last year a sum of 1.2 billion dollars was achieved in global cigar exports; the first market is the United States.

Likewise, Guzmán added that in 2021 the Dominican Republic was the leading rum exporting country to the United States. Hence, the industry achieved a significant milestone with the approval by the Dominican government of the denomination of origin to provide consumers around the world with more excellent guarantees of quality and traceability.

Celebration

The event took place at the Ambassador’s residence in New York, where the Association of Cigar Producers of the Dominican Republic (Procigar) and the Dominican Association of Rum Producers (Adopron) entertained members of the U.S. Congress, federal government officials, diplomats, representatives of international organizations, specialized agents and business people involved in the sale and distribution of cigars and rum in Washington, Virginia, and Maryland, and throughout the United States.

According to the State agency, the president of Procigar, Hendrik Kelner, and other representatives paid a courtesy visit to the U.S. Congress, where they met with the chairman of the Cigar Caucus, Pennsylvania Congressman Dan Meuser.
For her part, the representative of Adopron, Aguie Lendor, held meetings with different institutions in the United States regarding the importation, labeling, and designation of the geographical indication in this country.

Representatives from the Dominican Republic attended the reception, including representatives from the Ministries of the Presidency, Public Health and Higher Education, ProDominicana, and the American Chamber of Commerce.

Dominican tourism income tops US$931.0M

Santo Domingo.- The arrival of tourists in July to the Dominican Republic had a direct impact on the economy, because it represented 931 million dollars in foreign exchange contributions.
These are the numbers handled by the Ministry of Tourism and which were released yesterday through David Collado.
The United States remains in the lead as the issuing country of tourists, followed by Canada, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Spain, Cuba and the United Kingdom.
Collado gives as a fact that this year 2022 will close with the arrival of more than seven million tourists, “thus achieving the best year of tourism in its history, thanks to the vision that has been implemented from the State by the president Luis Abinader, as well as the cooperation of the private sector and all the collaborators of the ministry.”

World tourism recovers

Santo Domingo, DR.
Economic events on the international scene seem to be a string of bad news. The words war, inflation, and recession are trending topics in all media, generating a collective pessimism that exacerbates the mental exhaustion that COVID left us with. But there is always something positive that can be highlighted, and one good news that the year 2022 brings us is the recovery of tourism worldwide.

According to the World Tourism Organization, in the first half of 2022, the number of tourists almost tripled what was registered at the beginning of 2021, well above what was initially expected. The Caribbean, Central America, and Southern Europe are the fastest recovering areas at the sub-regional level. This is excellent news, especially for the Caribbean, as they are the economy most dependent on the tourism industry.

Looking at the statistics of tourist arrivals in January-March 2022 and comparing it with the same period in 2019, the World Tourism Organization highlights the ten destinations registering the fastest recovery: St. Maarten, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ethiopia, San Marino, Andorra, Puerto Rico, Albania, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bulgaria and El Salvador. As can be seen, four of the top ten fastest recovering destinations are in the Caribbean.

Although the top 10 destinations of the World Tourism Organization mostly have small percentages of the global tourist flow, the same recovery is shown by the leading locations of the international sun and beach tourism. To cite some examples in different continents, Seychelles had a 10% increase in visitor arrivals when comparing May 2022 with May 2019, while the Balearic Islands have a higher number of tourist reservations this summer than those registered in the summer before the pandemic.

In the case of Cancun, in the first half of 2022, they received 10% more travelers than in the first half of 2019, explained mainly by the substantial increase in visits from U.S. tourists.

Another good news is that travelers are spending more than before, to the point that the average expenditure of the international tourist has increased from one thousand dollars in 2019 to more than one thousand four hundred dollars in 2021, and everything indicates that it will rise even more in this 2022.

The rapid recovery in tourism and the increase in travel spending is expected at the current juncture. During the pandemic, governments in developed countries passed generous tax breaks, but people spent little because they were confined to their homes. As a result, they accumulated significant savings that today, without restrictions, they are happy to spend enjoying the vacations they could not take during the most challenging months of 2020 and 2021.

The Dominican Republic has also been part of the wave of tourism recovery worldwide, with non-resident foreign arrivals during January-June 2022 that is just one hundred and eighty thousand tourists below what was recorded in January-June 2019. The positive performance of Dominican tourism has occurred despite the drop in Russian tourist arrivals due to the effect of Western sanctions.

On the other hand, the arrival of non-resident Dominicans to the country during 2022 has been impressive, to the point that in the first six months of the year, we received close to one hundred and fifty thousand more Dominicans than in the same period in 2019. Although these are not considered “international tourists,” their visit to the country represents a significant foreign exchange inflow to the Dominican economy.

Undoubtedly, the world will face complicated economic and geopolitical challenges in the future. But industries such as tourism teach us that there is always good news that helps us to maintain hope because, as the African clergyman Desmond Tutu said: “hope is the ability to see that there is light despite all the darkness.”

Dominican Central Bank: economic activity climbed 5.8% to June

Santo Domingo.- The Central Bank reported yesterday that the Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (IMAE) registered a year-on-year expansion of 5.8% in June, higher than the 4.8% observed in May and the 4.7% in April 2022. With this result, it specified that the average growth of the IMAE corresponding to January-June of this year was 5.6% compared to the same semester of the previous year.
Regarding the behavior of domestic prices, the monthly variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.64% in June 2022, placing the year-on-year inflation measured from June 2021 to June 2022 at 9.48%.
“In the domestic sphere, the perspectives remain positive, forecasting an expansion of the gross domestic product (GDP) of 5.0%, a rate close to the potential, according to the forecast system of the Central Bank and in line with what is indicated by multilateral organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank,” reiterated the bank

Ninth tourist guide Discover Puerto Plata 2022 launched

The Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Enterprises of the North (Ashonorte) put into circulation the ninth edition of the official guide of the destination Puerto Plata: Discover Puerto Plata 2022.

In addition to highlighting the different attractions of the municipalities of the province of Puerto Plata, the guide also includes information related to the various tourism lines, such as Ecotourism, Health and Wellness Tourism, Real Estate Tourism, and Wedding Tourism.

It has a fresh and innovative design, an interactive map to guide tourists through the different attractions of the destination, and a QR code for easy access on electronic devices.

The direction, texts, and translation were carried out by Kathy Morillo, Executive Director of Ashonorte. In contrast, the production, editorial direction, and layout were under the responsibility of Createx POP, in the persons of Derissé de León, president, and Diomar González, director of Art.

It had the official sponsorship of the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) and the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency.

It is recalled that Discover Puerto Plata is the official tourist guide of the destination and the primary tool to show the beauties and attractions of the province at all national and international tourism fairs.

It is recalled that Discover Puerto Plata is the official tourist guide of the destination and the primary tool to show the beauties and attractions of the province at all national and international tourism fairs.

It will be available digitally on the social networks Instagram and Facebook (@ashonorte) and ISSUU.com; and physically in the establishments of the members of Ashonorte and at Mitur.

The Dominican Republic received 735,064 thousand tourists in July, says David Collado

The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, informed that the Dominican Republic received 735,064 thousand non-resident visitors in July, making it the month of highest tourist arrivals in the country’s history, surpassing December 2021.

Collado indicated that this new achievement is projected to close the year by beating for the first time in history the figure of more than 7 million million million tourists, and said that with this July 2022, non-resident visitor arrivals represent 10% more than July 2018, 24% above July 2019 and 30% above the same month of 2021.

“We did it again. We achieved an extraordinary month in tourist arrivals to the Dominican Republic,” said Collado when referring to the record figure reached in July in visitor arrivals compared to the same month in previous years. “July 2022 becomes, together with December 2021, the only months in history in which we exceed 700,000 tourists in one month,” he added.

Minister Collado pointed out that, in addition to these 734 thousand visitors by air, another 98,389 cruise passengers arrived in the country in July and that cumulatively the country has more than 4 million 182 thousand tourists so far this year.

He affirmed that the arrival of these tourists last month directly impacted the economy since it represented 739 million dollars in foreign exchange contributions.

The United States continues to lead as a country of origin for tourists, followed by Canada, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Spain, Cuba, and the United Kingdom.

Minister Collado reiterated that this year would close with the arrival of more than 7 million tourists, “thus achieving the best tourism year in its history, thanks to the vision that has been implemented from the State by President Luis Abinader, as well as the cooperation of the private sector and all the collaborators of the ministry.”

Pro Consumidor says “no more warnings for JetBlue airline.”

Santo Domingo, DR.
The National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Pro Consumidor) warned through a publication on its social networks that it will no longer issue warnings to the airline JetBlue and will respond to all consumers according to the magnitude of the non-compliance.

The entity, which must protect the rights of consumers, expressed that the airline’s non-compliances have been reiterative, as well as the complaints and claims of consumers, and called on the latter to approach the entity.

“Pro Consumidor will not issue any more warnings to JetBlue Airlines,” said the entity in one of two publications. Pro Consumidor’s reaction is motivated by the constant complaints from Dominicans regarding the airline’s mistreatment.

Earlier this week, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, criticized JetBlue for its behavior and “abuses” against Dominicans who travel with this company.

Pacheco recounted his inconvenience with the airline during a commercial flight to Puerto Rico last Saturday and how he observed that they only committed outrages against Dominicans, for which he asked the Dominican Government to cancel their license.

“They are abusers, the way they treat Dominicans, it’s a little creepy,” Pacheco began his story, he went on to say that he had to attend an activity in Puerto Rico, and they sent him the ticket with a flight for 2:00 in the afternoon and only at 5:30 in the afternoon did the plane take off.

The cost of inflation

Santo Domingo, DR.
There is no doubt: that inflation is the number one problem globally. Daughter of the pandemic, it was aggravated by the beginning of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Although many thought it would last for days or weeks, it has already completed five months of hostility, a humanitarian disaster with significant consequences for the West, through fuels and cereals. Add to that the already complicated supply chain picture.

This has impacted the margin of maneuver of the government of President Luis Abinader, pressured by a barrel of oil that has touched the $130 barrier and by inflation that has already exceeded double digits in many countries. However, fortunately, this is not our case. To get an idea, to prevent oil hikes from reaching the citizens’ pockets, the government has assumed the debt of the increases, absorbing, from January to June, almost 19 billion pesos.

Can you imagine for a moment not subsidizing fuels and letting society assume this? The answer to that assumption would have implied have affected the social peace and political stability of the Dominican Republic, which in turn would have impacted the economy, investments, job creation, and citizen security. Hence, this sacrifice has been well worth it. Nevertheless, with 19 billion subsidies, the margin for governmental achievements has been reduced, and the President has had to appeal for the permanent revision of public spending. For example, in recent days, salary increases and the hiring of new personnel were frozen, in addition to limitations on travel, extraordinary expenses, and everything extra for a context such as the current one, so that an economic surplus can be created to allow the allocation of all possible funds to prevent prices from skyrocketing and impacting the pockets of all Dominicans.

Without the global crisis, the country could have made progress in strategic works. For example, suppose we calculate that the cost per kilometer of highway or subway is US$ 447,000, considering the fuel and energy subsidies. In that case, the country could have today underway the construction of 80 more kilometers of subway line or its equivalent in highways.

Despite this, the government’s work is visible. On the social front, the president announced the allocation of a 1,500 peso subsidy for one million people, alleviating the overall economic burden that hangs over them. In addition, it was agreed to raise, through SENASA, from one to two million pesos per patient per year in case of catastrophic illness, a ceiling that had not been reviewed for years and which comes to lighten the enormous burden placed on a cancer patient or other condition. There has never been a more difficult time to govern.

During the pandemic, it was known that the economy would be hit. Still, never at the levels we have seen today, as a result of war conflicts which, although far from our shores, have had a direct impact, with an enormous cost in terms of inflation, which does not seem to dent the President’s will to move forward the country that trusted in his proposal two years ago.

Tourism focuses on strengthening the quality of services to cruise passengers in Puerto Plata

More than 90 actors that offer their services in the value chain of the tourism and cruise industry were trained to achieve excellence in the products they offer to cruise passengers on their tours and tours of each of the attractions of the province and the northern coast of the country.

The purpose of the workshop course: “Excellence in Service, WOW edition,” was to train the personnel in charge of each area that provides first-line services to cruise ship tourists with authentic experiences and quality service.

This workshop was coordinated by the Regional Tourism Office for Puerto Plata and the North Coast and was given by the facilitator and expert in tourism and the province, Ambra Attus, a representative in the country of Aquila, a leading company in training for destinations in the global cruise industry.

Also participating for the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) were the Provincial director for Puerto Plata and the North Coast, Stephanie Kfouri, and Orfila Salazar, director of Cruises.

Kfouri assured that “we are committed to ensuring that tourists receive excellent services,” which is why the workshop will bring excellent results in the quality of the services that cruise passengers receive while living the experiences of the Puerto Plata destination.

On his side, Salazar thanked on behalf of the Minister of Tourism David Collado, the directors of the Ocean World water park, for opening the doors for the realization of the course and for receiving in its facilities almost a hundred participants.

He explained that the training initiative in the sector is part of the plans of Minister Collado to support the industry and because of the sustained growth, month after month, that the cruise industry has been showing in each of the tourist ports of the country.

He highlighted the great expectations for the country to continue its leadership in this sector with the beginning of the construction of a port for Samaná and the plans for a new terminal for Cabo Rojo, Pedernales.

Salazar also said that it is of great importance for the promotion and development of the industry that the city of Santo Domingo will host the 28th Annual Conference of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association FCCA from October 11 to 14.

The U.S. consolidates its position as the Dominican Republic’s largest tourist source with more than 50% of arrivals

“The goose that lays the golden eggs of Dominican tourism is the United States, and that has many reasons, the first of which is the proximity, the connection from the cultural point of view, the country’s ability to connect with the type of food they seek, the service they demand, and the Dominican connects very well with the American tourist, they feel very comfortable, there are many facilities, and there are no major cultural disparities.”

This was stated by the executive vice-president of Asonahores, Andres Marranzini. They revealed that the United States currently contributes more than 50% of the total number of tourists visiting the Dominican Republic.

“So there are many elements, but the main thing is the proximity, at the end of the day, from the East Coast we have flights from one hour 40 minutes to 4 hours and a half, and in that entire coastline there must be 100 million potential American visitors, and that continues to be our north, and we are doing very well, better than everyone in the Caribbean,” he clarified.

As for the European market, Marranzini said that the collapse of the euro against the U.S. dollar had not had a negative impact on the arrival of tourists from the European continent.

He explained that they have been monitoring the movement of the dollar-euro, and in the past, when the euro lost value against the US currency, European tourism decreased, but this has not been the case this time.

The business leader said that the Dominican Republic had received the volume of European tourists projected for the current year.

Towards the financial empowerment of Dominican women

Santo Domingo, DR
It has been proven that improving women’s access to credit promotes their economic empowerment and translates into savings and investment for their households, a fundamental equation for accelerating a country’s economic reactivation.

But women’s financial inclusion in the Dominican Republic still presents significant challenges. Currently, only 4.7% of registered MSMEs in the country are led by women. Overall, it is estimated that there is a credit gap for women of approximately 1.2 million dollars. Most of this corresponds to access to commercial credit: for every RD$100 owed by a man for commercial purposes, a woman had an honor of less than RD$36 at the end of 2020.

Despite all this, the country has experienced progress in access to other types of loans. Since 2013, the female consumer credit portfolio grew by nearly three percentage points to December 2020 (from 43% to 45.7%), according to the Superintendency of Banks. Mortgage loans, on the other hand, and according to the same source, show a reduction in the gender gap between 2013-2020 of 4.6 percentage points in favor of women, standing today at 49.9%.

A study by IFC and Banco BHD León revealed that one of the main barriers to the increase in credit is that financial institutions are unaware of the needs and behaviors of this market segment and therefore have limited capacity to devise channels and products that are adapted to them.

For women, their relationship with a financial institution must go beyond a disbursement; non-financial services play a decisive role: the institution that can provide tools to help them grow and develop as entrepreneurs have a greater chance of becoming more attractive offer and a long-term ally. To respond to this need, financial institutions, including banks and microfinance institutions, have to overcome some operational and regulatory challenges and adopt innovative strategies and solutions based on best practices around the world.

This evolution occurs in a global marketplace where women play an increasingly prominent role in business. An IFC report indicates that between 2012 and 2019, women in Latin America increased their participation in the economically active population (EAP) by 22%, compared to 8% for men. This trend is expected to continue over time. Therefore, facilitating access to financial services for women benefits the financial industry, generates more employment, and drives economic growth in the Dominican Republic and the region.