SANTO DOMINGO. - Banco Popular Dominicano and BHD announced this weekend their participation in the forty-fifth edition of the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) 2025, which will be held from January 22 to 26 at the IFEMA fairgrounds in Madrid, Spain.
Banco Popular highlighted in a press release that it has scheduled an agenda of more than 40 meetings with leaders of the tourism industry and representatives of hotel chains, with the purpose of strengthening strategic alliances, promoting investments and diversifying the tourism offer and quality of the Dominican Republic.
The Banco Popular delegation will be headed by the bank's CEO, Christopher Paniagua, along with a team of executives, who will reinforce the institution's commitment to innovation and sustainability in the sector for more than 30 years.
Throughout this time, the press release states, Banco Popular has led the financing of tourism projects in the country, being the first Dominican bank to recognize the potential of this industry as an engine of economic and social development since the early 1990s. This commitment translates into specialized financial solutions for new hotel facilities and for the conversion of existing ones, as well as support for tourism infrastructure projects and the diversification of the offerings, as elements that have transformed key destinations in the country.
Diversify and improve the tourism offer
At the forty-fifth edition of FITUR, Popular will internationally present the Taíno Cultural Center Casa del Cordón, a space located in the first stone house in America, in the very heart of the historic center of Santo Domingo, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, with which the financial entity seeks to promote quality cultural tourism and strengthen the country's museum proposal.
In this way, the bank aims to promote initiatives to attract visitors interested in exclusive experiences, as well as investments in high value-added services that position the nation as a premium destination, differentiated from other tourist offerings in the Caribbean.
This approach aligns with Grupo Popular's comprehensive strategy, which drives transformative investments in the tourism industry. A prime example of this commitment is the recent collaboration between Meliá Hotels International, AFI Popular, and AFP Popular, aimed at fostering sustainable, high-quality growth in the sector, which impacts the country's socioeconomic potential.
International positioning
Banco Popular, together with its parent company, Grupo Popular, will continue to promote cutting-edge projects that strengthen the Dominican Republic's position as a global leader in tourism. This includes the introduction of new products to diversify and innovate its tourism portfolio.
Popular leverages its position in various international forums such as UN Tourism and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), of which it is an affiliate member, to promote cutting-edge projects.
Gateway to the markets of Europe and Latin America
FITUR has established itself as a strategic event for promoting destinations, attracting investment, and strengthening business relationships in the global tourism industry. This year, one of the main focuses will be sustainability, highlighting initiatives such as the FITURNEXT Observatory, designed to promote best practices that can be replicated worldwide.
In its last edition in 2024, FITUR registered a record attendance of 250,000 visitors from 152 countries, including more than 153,000 industry professionals and 97,000 attendees from the general public.
BHD will hold a forum on Dominican tourism
Banco BHD will hold the second edition of its BHD Forum: Tourism and Investment, focusing on the theme "Opportunities in the Dominican Republic's Tourism Economic Ecosystem." This event coincides with the 2025 International Tourism Fair (Fitur) and will feature David Collado, Minister of Tourism, and Steven Puig, President of the bank.
The forum will be held in two parts. The first is a conference led by Alejandro Beltrán, senior partner at McKinsey Iberia, who will speak about best practices for boosting the tourism economic ecosystem. Beltrán is an expert in corporate finance and strategy, banking, and infrastructure, and has participated in various transformations in both the private and public sectors.
In announcing the forum, Guillermo Méndez, Executive Vice President of Corporate and Business Banking at Banco BHD, stated that “tourism is a major driver of community development and, consequently, of the Dominican Republic and its people. That is why we have created this space for conversation and networking, which allows us to share knowledge and strengthen ties between companies within the tourism ecosystem.”.
The second part is a panel that will present opportunities for companies in the Dominican tourism sector's economic ecosystem based on the experiences of Biviana Riveiro, executive director of the Export and Investment Center of the Dominican Republic (ProDominicana); Jacqueline Mora, technical vice minister of the Ministry of Tourism, and Ernesto Armenteros, executive director of César Iglesias.
The BHD Forum: Tourism and Investment is an initiative of the Corporate and Business Banking unit of Banco BHD. Its first edition was presented at Fitur 2024 with the theme "Sustainable Tourism: Current Situation, Outlook, Mitigation Measures, and Best Practices.".
“The tourism economic ecosystem depends on multi-sector collaboration. Companies no longer operate in isolation; they are now part of larger networks that share data, technology, and infrastructure. Economic ecosystems in the tourism sector are fundamental because they offer greater innovation, cost savings, and a global reach. BHD’s contribution to the Dominican Republic’s tourism economic ecosystem is not only about offering specialized products and services, but also about the benefits that result from the synergies among the companies within the BHD Financial Center,” explained Méndez.
BHD's participation in Fitur 2025
The day after the forum, Banco BHD will be present at Fitur, which will take place from January 22 to 26 of this year in Madrid, Spain. A BHD delegation, led by the bank's president, will participate in the fair to explain the institution's proposal for tourism projects to interested parties.
"For almost 20 years, we have focused our value proposition for the tourism sector on offering excellent financial service, structuring bilateral and syndicated loans, leasing, mergers and acquisitions advice, among others, through an exclusive unit focused on tourism within Corporate and Business Banking," Méndez highlighted.
Banco BHD's products and services for the tourism sector's economic ecosystem are offered by a team of experts in structuring financial solutions, mass consumption and commerce, infrastructure and construction, manufacturing and agriculture, financial institutions, government and the social sector.
