This February 27, President Luis Abinader renders accounts for the second time before the National Assembly after coming to power. He does so at the end of a year in which the economy and health were the topics that dominated.
Fitur 2022
In the economic aspect, one of the productive activities to which the president has paid more attention is tourism and the fact is remarkable because he became the first president to attend the International Tourism Fair (Fitur 2022) held in Madrid , Spain.
During the development of this event, Abinader, who spent five days promoting Dominican tourism in Madrid and encouraging local investment, held several meetings with Spanish authorities, Dominican businessmen based in Spain, Dominican airlines and banking authorities who participated in Fitur.
Some actors in the tourism sector have described Abinader’s visit to the Madrid fair as an “unprecedented event”, where its fruits will begin to be seen from the year 2023.
Tourism development of Pedernales
Another of the great bets of President Abinader’s management is the Cabo Rojo-Pedernales Tourism Development Plan, a project in which an investment of US$2,245 million is estimated.
The president himself has defined the Pedernales plan as the way to achieve “remarkable” economic growth, since this tourist hub will create nearly 20,000 direct jobs and more than 50,000 indirect ones. Even at Fitur 2022, Abinader, together with the executive director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP), Sigmund Freund, presented the master plan for the Cabo Rojo-Pedernales Tourism Development Project, the first tourist destination in the Caribbean developed since zero under a public-private partnership.
first piebald
The president’s weekend visits to some provinces have also been the scene in which Abinader talks about his plans for tourism and his strategy to consolidate the Dominican Republic in the top positions of world tourism.
For this reason, the president has had direct approaches with businessmen from the national tourism sector and has attended the first bite of several tourism works that include hotels, construction or renovation of highways in the destinations and meetings with the tourism clusters of the provinces that he visits every weekend. of week.
Some of the first picazos headed by the president during 2021 were the Viva Wyndham Resorts hotel in Miches, the construction of 129 Life Style Tourist Villas in Puerto Plata, the remodeling of the Malecón de Cabrera and Laguna Gri Gri in Río San Juan, the construction of the “El Dorado” Amusement Park in Punta Cana, the reconstruction and adaptation of the Vendors Plaza and the Guayacanes Beach, the expansion of the Punta Cana airport, the remodeling of Las Galeras Beach in Samaná, among others.
Colonial cityAbinader has also been very interested in the renovation of the Colonial City, so in December 2021 he announced an investment of RD$460 million in small works and renovation of historic monuments in the Colonial City.
President Luis Abinader opened the Parqueo Las Atarazanas, which has capacity for 200 vehicles and will generate 162 jobs.
It also put into operation the first Evergo charging stations for electric vehicles in the Colonial City, installed in the Las Atarazanas Parking Lot. Likewise, President Abinader has made tours of this destination in the Dominican capital to inaugurate museums, renovate the painting of houses, among others.
arrival of tourists
The president has met in Punta Cana with general managers of hotel chains.
In addition, through the Ministry of Tourism, the country’s advertising campaigns have been intensified in nations such as the United States, which apparently contributed to the last months of 2021 being “the best in the history of Dominican tourism,” according to the Minister David Collado every time he announced the tourist arrival figures for that year.
During 2021, 4,995,412 tourists arrived in the Dominican Republic. Offering these statistics, Abinader pointed out that there were many formulas and attempts, but that his responsible recovery plan and an active Tourism Cabinet coordinated with the Health Cabinet have managed to “make a real change”, positioning the country as one of the world leaders in recovery.
Speaking of the performance of tourism, precisely at Fitur 2022, Abinader received recognition from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for his successful recovery in the tourism industry and his efficient handling of health protocols in the different destinations of this Caribbean country.
Jobs
Another point that President Abinader will probably highlight in his speech is that around 65,000 formal jobs were recovered in the entire tourism industry throughout 2021, which represents an estimated recovery of 91,347 direct informal jobs and 185,000 indirect jobs.
In addition, the year-on-year growth of formal employment in December 2021 was 61% and 5% compared to December 2018 and one in five formal jobs recovered in the country was in Hotels, Bars and Restaurants.
Income generated
The estimated income received by the country during 2021 was US$5.626 million in foreign currency thanks to the arrival of tourists, a fact that Abinader could mention in his statement of accounts as a sign of support for the stability of the country’s exchange rate.
In addition, the reactivation of the sector meant year-on-year growth figures of 38.3% in the January-November period, and as a partial consequence, a growth of the Dominican economy of 12.5%, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism.