SANTO DOMINGO – Tourism training in the Dominican Republic is taking a key step toward professionalizing its workforce. The Dominican Republic Hotel and Tourism Association (Asonahores) signed a collaboration agreement aimed at strengthening technical and professional training in tourism and hospitality, improving the quality of human capital, and contributing to a more sustainable development of the sector.
The agreement was signed at FITUR 2026 and aligns with the General Protocol signed on January 25, 2024, between the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands and the Dominican Government. In practice, it establishes a cooperation framework that will enable the implementation of joint training programs, academic exchanges, professional mobility, and internships in real-world work environments, connecting local training with international standards.
International cooperation and knowledge transfer
As a core part of the agreement, the Government of the Balearic Islands, through the Balearic Islands Hospitality School Consortium, will provide technical and academic support to strengthen tourism training in the Dominican Republic. This includes specialized training, curriculum updates, co-teaching, and the transfer of methodologies aligned with the demands of the global hotel industry.
The experience of the Balearic Islands, one of the most established tourist destinations in Europe, will serve as a reference to raise the quality of Dominican technical education and adapt it to the current challenges of the tourism labor market.
For its part, INVEROTEL will support the initiative by aligning the training provided by INFOTEP with the real needs of the hotel sector. This will facilitate professional internships, promote the exchange of experiences, and strengthen key skills that the industry demands today, such as service management, customer service, sustainability, and modern hotel operations.
A training model based on the territory
The Director General of INFOTEP, Rafael Santos Badía, explained that the agreement reflects a development vision based on international cooperation and a direct link between training and employment. “We are committed to training aligned with international standards, connected to real-world employment and the country's productivity,” he stated.
As part of this model, the Villa Suiza Hotel School, located in Sabana de la Mar, will serve as the base center for the training program. It will receive technical and pedagogical support from the Balearic Islands Hospitality School, which will strengthen teaching capacities and subsequently allow for the replication of this model in other INFOTEP schools nationwide.
The goal is clear: to bring high-level training to the territories where tourism is developing and where employment opportunities are generated.
Impact on competitiveness and employment
The agreement includes training placements for Dominican instructors in the Balearic Islands, international internships, continuous technical advice, knowledge transfer, and the strengthening of INFOTEP's institutional capacity to manage hospitality schools with world-class standards.
The president of Asonahores, Juan Bancalari, emphasized that this alliance is strategic for enhancing the competitiveness of the Dominican tourism sector. He stressed that aligning technical training with the real needs of the industry improves service quality, strengthens youth employability, and prepares the country for a more demanding and specialized tourism sector.
For INVEROTEL and Asonahores, this agreement consolidates their role as a bridge between technical education and the productive sector, facilitating job placement, the development of professional skills and the construction of a more productive, innovative and sustainable tourism.
