President Luis Abinader projected the arrival of one million cruise passengers per year by 2026 with the opening of the new port of Cabo Rojo in Pedernales, 245 kilometers southwest of the Dominican capital.
At the inauguration of the first phase of this port, where the first cruise ship anchored on Thursday, the president said that today was a great day and that today began the change of the southern region.
“Pedernales, Cabo Rojo is already a reality. Today is the beginning of change for the entire region of the so-called deep south,” said Abinader.
He stressed that tourism in this region will be the first engine of growth in addition to the support they will provide to the agricultural sector, among others.
“With this plan, we project in the long term a million cruise passengers by 2026, with an economic impact in the area of millions of dollars, 3,000 direct jobs and more than 10,000 indirect jobs,” said the president.
He expressed that in the next 10 years the province of Pedernales will be unrecognizable and that in the next 20 years it will be another tourist pole.
For his part, Sigmund Freund, director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Alliances, explained that DR$26,000 million have been invested and more than 1,800 direct and indirect jobs have been generated. He also announced that by March of this year, the construction of the Cabo Rojo International Airport will begin and by the third quarter, the first hotel will be in operation.
During his speech, the director of the Dominican Port Authority, Jean Luis Rodríguez, said that the port will not only function for the reception of tourists, but will also be a channel for the sustainable development of the community.
He emphasized that there are 2,500 cruise passengers enjoying the attractions of the first stage of the Cabo Rojo project.
Next stop for the cruise ship
The cruise ship departed from Miami, Florida, on the second of this month for Cabo Rojo where it will remain until 7:00 p.m. and then it will move to Catalina Island, La Romana, from where it will depart to the port of Oranjestad, Aruba.
According to the ship’s itinerary, its route will continue through the Caribbean to Curaçao, Bonaire, Tortola, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and is scheduled to return on January 13 to Miami, Florida, its point of departure.
Source: Mitur.com
