This year's Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange (DATE) 2023, a tourism exhibition that concluded yesterday, saw a 37% increase in business meetings compared to last year. The event, organized by the Dominican Republic Hotel and Tourism Association (ASONAHORES), brought together more than 300 national and international tourism companies in one venue.
During the three days that the event was held, 7,800 business meetings were scheduled, according to data provided by Andrés Marranzini, vice president of ASONAHORES, who explained that the event managed to increase the number of appointments made by 37% compared to 2022, "which becomes a record figure that is well above the years prior to the pandemic.".
This year's event featured 210 purchasing companies and 110 exhibiting companies, including suppliers and operators from the world's leading source markets.
“The truth is that everything has been super successful, in our case the exhibition of new complementary products has been extraordinary such as swimming with horses and the Katmandu park,” Marranzini declared.
He noted that the attendance rate for scheduled appointments is normally around 90%, with nearly 700 delegates present and close to 90 national and international journalists.
“The truth is that we as a destination are diversifying more than just hotels, and in the case of hotels, the types we are opening are world-class,” the hoteliers' representative pointed out.
In his opinion, the Dominican Republic competes with other major world destinations such as Jamaica, Mexico, and Spain, so he believes that improving the tourism offering has been what has positioned the country as one of the best in the region.
He added that the challenge for the industry, after attracting tourists to the country, is to offer them other destinations and experiences different from the one they visited.
Marranzini emphasized that his goal is to attract tourists from Brazil to the Dominican Republic to complement the existing offerings.
“We made an effort, but for DATE 2024 we will make our best effort to have Brazilian buyers; this year we didn't achieve it,” he noted.
With information from the newspaper El Día.
Photo: El Día.
