The Dominican Hotel and Tourism Association (Asonahores) held its fourth “Tourism Investment Forum”, with historical figures in the sector at the year´s closure, particularly with investments worth more than USD$ 550 million dollars in tourism projects even in times of pandemic.
These investments include the launch of Miches and Pedernales as new holiday destinations; the consolidation of the offer in Santo Domingo, with many new hotels under development, and the development of Santiago, with investments aimed at establishing the city as a world-class urban destination. There is also the new Taino Park cruise terminal in Puerto Plata; hotels in Montecristi; the expansion of the Eastern seaboard with theme parks, many new hotels, and the renovation of existing facilities.
In addition to the new projects, the president of Asonahores, Rafael Blanco Tejera, emphasized that the Dominican Republic received a total of 519 thousand foreigners in November, a historical record that exceeds the month of November in the years 2020, 2019 and 2018. He also noted that future forecasts are even more positive.
“December bookings remain strong, so we estimate that we will close 2021 with more than 4.6 million arrivals. But equally important is that, we will already consolidate the recovery of the sector in 2022 by having historical level of bookings for the coming high season,” he said.
On the “Capital Markets: financing alternative for the Tourism Sector” panel, the Forum featured presentations by: Raúl Hoyo, CEO GAM Capital; Alberto Cruz, President of Excel Group; Joel Santos, general manager AFP Reservas, and José Gior Ariza, senior partner of Investa Capital Partners.
The event´s second panel titled “Investment in Projects in Different Tourist Poles: Pedernales and Miches” was comprised of: Sigmund Freund, director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP); Frank Elías Rainieri, president and CEO of Grupo Puntacana, and Rafael Blanco Canto, executive vice president of Viva Wyndham Resorts.
A debate entitled “Banking and Tourism: strategic partners” also took place, with the participation of Samuel Pereyra, general administrator of Banreservas; Steven Puig, executive president of BHD León, and Juan Manuel Martin de Oliva, vice president of the Tourism Business Department of Banco Popular Dominican, all of whom received recognition for their support to the industry through the financial instruments applied during the recent change in economic dynamics.
The event was attended by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, and with the virtual participation of the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili.
The fourth edition of the forum was held in the Epic Center conference room at the JW Marriott Hotel and was sponsored by Banreservas, the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur), Therrestra, Banco Popular, IDAC, AFP Crecer, Seguros Crecer, Banco BHD León, United Gas, La Nacional, GAM Capital, SURA, Seguros Reservas, United Capital, Primma Valores, Xeliter, Universal, among others.
Source:
Arecoa
