He highlighted the boom that each of the country's main tourist destinations is experiencing.
SANTO DOMINGO– “In a few years, the entire country will be a tourist destination. Achieving this has not been easy, and staying at the top will require a lot of vision, work, and support from different sectors of national life,” said businessman Frank Rainieri, speaking yesterday as a guest speaker at a breakfast conference hosted by the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, with Metropolitan Archbishop Francisco Ozoria in attendance.
He opined that the development of tourism is an "unstoppable process" and in a few years "the entire country will be a tourist destination," raising the proposal that by 2035 the goal of the Dominican Republic is to receive 17 million tourists.
Rainieri explained that the start of tourism in the 1970s was slow because it was a little-known activity, but it gained ground.
He quoted historian Frank Moya Pons, who in his analysis of the country's evolution in the period 1963-2013 stated that "tourism has become the main generator of foreign exchange and one of the most powerful factors of change that the country has had in its entire history.".
He considered that Moya Pons's assessment in 2013 "became a part of history, and since then growth has been unstoppable, even with global crises such as COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza.".
Rainieri defined tourism as "a social, cultural and economic phenomenon that has generated a multi-billion dollar global industry.".
"And for our country, it has been a great leap forward in development, going from a small agricultural economy to a global tourism giant. Like everything in life, it has its flaws and problems, but it is in our hands to take advantage of the good and improve the bad," he said.
He noted that in 2023, tourism contributed $9.828 billion to the Dominican economy, while exports from other sectors of the economy totaled $11.933 billion, according to preliminary figures from the Central Bank.
He stated that the joint work of the sector , the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) and President Luis Abinader, plus the support of the Verón-Punta Cana community, have resulted in the Punta Cana area experiencing double-digit growth and that its nearly 50,000 hotel rooms generate between 14 and 16% of the country's gross domestic product, 93,000 direct jobs and approximately 323,000 indirect jobs.
Tourism around the country
Rainieri highlighted that 2024 will bring 50,000 rooms to the Punta Cana-Miches area; with Bayahíbe and La Romana as established destinations; in the north, Puerto Plata with two cruise terminals and the Bergatín tourism real estate project, and Cabarete continues to grow.
In the northeast, he highlighted that Samaná will soon have two cruise ports and the northern part of the peninsula is increasing the number of hotel rooms.
He asserts that Pedernales, in the south, will be on the world tourism map in the coming years. He indicated that the development of Puntarena and other projects continues in Baní, and a cruise terminal is under construction in Barahona.
In Santiago, Jarabacoa and Constanza, he said, "important tourist niches are beginning to be created, and the city of Santo Domingo, in the process of renovation, will become a great tourist destination.".
"In a few years, the entire country will be a tourist destination. Achieving this has not been easy, and staying at the top will require a lot of vision, hard work, and support from different sectors of national life," he stated.
Rainieri, founder of the Puntacana Group and promoter of the development of the Punta Cana destination, pointed out that "the important thing now is to define where we are going, because it is not about achieving success but about maintaining it and this is always more difficult.".
He explained that for the Puntacana Group this translates into a series of investment initiatives "under the understanding that companies have an important commitment to the society that accepts them and allows them to exist and develop; they must be a positive and constructive partner that contributes to the society that welcomes them.".
Source: Diario Libre, with some modifications.
Cover photo: Frank Rainieri (External source).
