At a breakfast with the press, President Luis Abinader, together with the Minister of Tourism David Collado and the main executives of the Popular and Banreservas banks, affirmed that the Dominican Republic managed to sign investment agreements for more than US$2,000 million, during their participation in the International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2022).
The most important tourism fair in Europe, takes place from the 19th to the 23rd in the IFEMA fairgrounds, with the Dominican Republic as a partner country.
In this version 42, the Dominican stand was visited by the King of Spain, Felipe VI and the Queen consort Letizia Ortiz, who toured the Dominican stand followed by a multitude of visitors.
Abinader said when taking stock of the results of FITUR that the Dominican Republic is in fashion and there is not a single tour operator that does not want to be in the country and that new hotel chains are interested in the investment portfolio of the Dominican Republic.
Among the agreements signed by the country are those made with companies such as Iberia, Air Europa or El Corte Inglés.
David Collado, Minister of Tourism, expressed his satisfaction at the conclusion of these agreements and stressed that “we appreciate the trust shown by Spanish companies, to which, without a doubt, the fact that the Dominican Republic is the country of Central America and the Caribbean that has best recovered in terms of tourism after the crisis caused by Covid-19.
Likewise, it is the country that has been recognized as the one that has best managed the pandemic in the Region, with the highest vaccination rate in Central America-Caribbean and the only country in Central America-Caribbean that is breaking records for tourism inflows.”
Minister Collado received an award as the best Stand awarded to the Dominican Republic, within 100 countries.
The minister highlighted the role of the Popular and Banreservas banks and revealed that this year the BHD-León told him that they closed more deals than ever and that next year they will be sponsors at FITUR.
Relevant Agreements
The Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic (MITUR) and Iberia renewed an agreement to promote the Caribbean country and improve connectivity with the more than 90 destinations to which Iberia flies in Spain and Europe.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado and María Jesús López Solás, Commercial Director of Iberia’s network and Alliances. The renewal of this agreement between Iberia and Mitur includes a battery of actions through the airline’s communication channels such as the in-flight entertainment system, the Ronda Iberia magazine, its profiles on social networks or its website, www.iberia .com, among others.
In its winter program and until March, the airline has programmed a greater increase in its capacity, adding two more flights, reaching 13 weekly frequencies, which demonstrates Iberia’s commitment and commitment to this market and reinforces its leadership in Latin America
The increase in flights is also accompanied by a greater offer of seats -close to 270,000 seats per year- operated with Airbus A330-300 aircraft -with capacity for 292 passengers- which includes the Premium Economy product and offers greater cargo space, and Airbus A330-200 with 288 seats.
The agreement with Viajes El Corte Inglés was signed by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, and the CEO of Viajes El Corte Inglés, Jorge Shornenberguer, with the presence of President Luis Abinader and will guarantee that more than 200,000 tourists visit the Dominican Republic.
Likewise, at FITUR, the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic signed agreements with the travel agency, Rainbow Tours to encourage tourism in Poland, which will guarantee three weekly trips to Puerto Plata from the airports of Warsaw, Poznan and Katowice.
It also reached an agreement with Eurowings Discover in order to encourage tourism from Germany, through flights to the city of Puerto Plata.
new investment
In addition, during the fair, the Dominican Republic presented, together with the World Tourism Organization, the country’s new tourist destinations in which there are already hotel projects under development and for which it is seeking foreign hotel investment.
The country has a special interest in the development of three specific projects in the coming years: Costa del Ámbar, Miches and the relaunch of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo. In general, the three destinations highlight the idea that it is the perfect time to invest in the country, especially in these projects.
Record tourist year
2021 was a record year with the best month of December in the history of Dominican tourism with almost 730,000 non-resident visitors, who left an investment of US$5.626 million and the recovery of 600,000 jobs, thanks to the good management of the pandemic and the security protocols established by the Government of the country.
For President Luis Abinader, “the tourism sector has never before taken on such an important challenge as managing a pandemic. With work, vision and drive we have been able to face this multidimensional crisis and come to fruition and with great opportunities for the future”.
The president of the Banco Popular Dominicano, Christopher Paniagua, revealed that the entity is evaluating 25 projects to finance US$1.2 billion. He said that RD “has shone” in this FITUR.
The administrator of Banreservas, Samuel Pereyra, recorded that in more than 40 meetings with investors who plan to invest US$1,370 million, 3,700 new hotel rooms will be created.
When exhausting a space, the president of the Asonahores, Rafael Blanco Tejera, assured that from the Asonahores he can reiterate that “we are on the eve of a better moment.”
During the days of the fair, the Dominican stand has been a reason for attracting visitors to the fairgrounds, with crowds of people, which has led President Abinader and hoteliers to state that “the Dominican Republic is in fashion”,
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