President Luis Abinader revealed the imminent launching of two new Dominican airlines on the international market, as well as the Government supporting the opening of three new cruise ports, while stating that these initiatives, together with thousands of rooms being added to the hotel portfolio, will stimulate a “speedy growth of tourism”.
In his weekly meeting with journalists, Abinader said that the support and inventiveness of tourism are paying off and recalled that when his term of office began in August 2020, there were just three cruise ports operating, one in Puerto Plata (Amber Cove), on in La Romana and the third in Santo Domingo.
However, it was no time before Taino Bay in Puerto Plata was operational, followed by Pedernales. Construction of the port in Santa Barbara de Samana has begun, as well as the reconstruction of Arroyo Barril (also in Samana province) to accommodate cruise ships. Meanwhile plans are to adapt the port of Barahona to receive cruise ships.
As for the increase in the number of hotel rooms, Abinader stated that thousands are being built in Punta Cana and Miches (5 hotels currently under construction). 2024-2027 will see the first hotels in Cabo Rojo coming into service, the first as early as the end of this year. He also reported that an important holiday real estate project is underway in Miches.
Answering a question about commercial aviation, the President said that the strategy to lower the cost of air transport to the country is to encourage the development of local supply, and the incentive law was approved for local airlines to compete with U.S. airlines, despite complications in managing commercial air relations with the USA, a country he referred to as “our friends”.
He recalled that when taking up office there were no Dominican flag ships offering flights to U.S. airports and that there are now three operating with a further two soon to come into operation.
Regarding the US$10.00 charged by Dominican airlines to Dominicans who fly in from abroad, the process to recover this fee is easy as the refund can be secured in 5 minutes via the Banco de Reservas online platform.
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