President Luis Abinader returned to the country tonight after his trip to Madrid, Spain, where he participated in the International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2022).
For President Abinader, the participation of the Dominican Republic in this fair was successful and highly beneficial due to the amount of business that was achieved.
To reinforce his assessment of the success achieved at FITUR 2022, the president revealed that, between what was achieved by the Reserve, Popular and BHD banks and what was negotiated with investors who met with him, business is estimated at over 2,000 million Dollars.
Upon arrival at the Punta Cana International Airport, the head of state was received by Vice President Raquel Peña; Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Carlos Luciano Díaz Morfa; the General Director of CESAC, General of the Aviation Technical Brigade, Carlos Febrillet Rodríguez; the executive director of the Airport Department, Víctor Pichardo; the Central Director of the Tourism Police (Politur), Brigadier General Minoru Matsunaga; the commander of the Presidential Guard, Brigadier General Guillermo Caro Cruz, ERD and Lourdes Herrera, in charge of the Presidential Office.
In two days of work at FITUR 2022, the president had 27 meetings with tourism investors, tour operators, airlines, hotel chains and airlines.
Before traveling to the Dominican Republic this Friday the 21st, the Dominican head of state concluded his agenda of work and meetings in this Spanish capital and during the presentation of the Pedernales Tourism Development Master Plan, the president announced that this project is one of the bets most important aspects of this government management and that it will be carried out in four phases.
The first will start with 6 hotel chains, for a total period of 10 years, and with an estimated investment of 2,245 million dollars. This new tourist pole will create about 20,000 direct jobs and more than 50,000 indirect ones.
Also, during a breakfast that he held as part of his work agenda, he expressed to Dominican media directors and journalists that it is everyone’s responsibility to continue promoting the country’s main economic sector, which is tourism, and advocated for more awareness of what means this area for the country.
During his stay in this European nation, President Abinader inaugurated Fitur 2022 together with King Felipe VI, being the first president to achieve such a distinction.
The Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashbili, stated that “the The Dominican Republic is the best country to invest and to travel to.”
At the same time, the UNWTO executive considered that the presence of President Abinader at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2022) “is a great boost for Dominican tourism and highlighted that it is the first time that a head of state attends this activity”.
Another achievement in the exhausted presidential agenda in Spain was the signing ceremony of the agreement in which the Piñero Group communicated a sustainable financing of up to 200 million dollars in tourism investment initiatives in the country together with private banking entities.
Abinader also presided over the signing of agreements for US$1.4 billion with the Polish tour operator Rainbow Tours and the Spanish Iberia and German airlines Euro Wings.
He also held several meetings with European tourism investors, to whom he presented the facilities and legal guarantees that the country offers to foreign capital flows aimed at tourism.
The president left the country on Sunday 16 at night to the city of Madrid, Spain, on a commercial Air Europa flight from the Punta Cana International Airport, and returned through the same terminal at 8:00 at night. This Friday, January 21.
On Monday the 17th, the president attended a lunch offered by the Dominican ambassador to Spain, Juan Bolívar Díaz and his wife Ada Wiscovitch, at the headquarters of the diplomatic mission.
At the Fitur 2022 Fair, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia waited for President Abinader to welcome him, as indicated by protocol.
Immediately, His Majesty Felipe VI invited President Abinader to a tour of the fair. After an hour of travel, the Dominican president separated from the king and queen to go to the RD stand and wait for them there.
When the royal couple arrived at the Dominican stand, a multitude of people, including journalists, photographers, and cameramen from all over the world who meet at this Fitur 2022, were already there.
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