The Dominican Republic, as a partner country of FITUR 2022, bet on an extensive display of Dominican culture.
Under the slogan FITUR embraces the world, the 42nd edition of the international tourism fair was held from January 19 to 24, at which the Dominican Republic exhibited an extensive display of its culture based on art, dance, gastronomy and other Dominican cultural practices.
Gastronomy
The culinary show was in charge of the outstanding chef Martín Omar, who is known in the mother country as one of the greatest promoters of Dominican flavors. For the occasion his proposal was based on stewed chivo liniero, moro de gandules, panecicos de yuca, casabe, catibías, niño envuelto and pastries in leaves; accompanied by dulce de tres leches and deditos de novia filled with guava sabanera jam.
Through the exhibition “Dominican Cuisine”, the chef made ten presentations to different groups, including journalists, travel agents, tour operators and visitors to the fairgrounds.
The launching by the Dominican Academy of Gastronomy of the second edition of the Dominican gastronomic guide, in its digital and physical versions, was another of the events developed to promote gastronomic tourism to the Dominican Republic.
Colada Poetry
The coffee process, according to expert Sofia Tarrazo, is a poetic event; an art that is reflected in the quality and presentation of Poesía Colada, a product of Dominican origin made from an exquisite selection of the best beans of this fruit selected from different parts of the Dominican geography, where support for local coffee growers and the imprint of an economic benefit for social issues in each community involved is a priority.
At FITUR, Poesía Colada delighted those present with a very original proposal, hand in hand with Kah Kow Experience, offering tastings at the Chocolate Tree-to-bar, as well as educational sections on Dominican specialty coffee, its origins, evolution and pairing with organic cocoa transformed into chocolate.
Creole handicrafts
Larimar, amber, faceless dolls, pieces created from banana leaves and other elements of nature, were part of the exhibition of Creole handicrafts, coordinated by Altagracia Corletto de Olmos, director of Cultural Tourism of MITUR, with the presence of outstanding artisans such as Cristina Núñez and the handicraft firms Gilrose and Rita’s jewelry.
Tobacco producer
The Dominican Republic is the leading tobacco exporter, with some 103,734 tareas of land currently under cultivation for the 2021-2022 harvest, distributed in 32 tobacco-growing zones, which generate more than 200 million handmade cigars and some 8 billion units of mechanized cigars, where 58.6% of the artisan labor force is made up of women.
The Dominican exhibit for FITUR 2022 also stood out for the elaboration of handmade cigars by the expert tobacco expert, native of Villa González, Mrs. Mercedes Henríquez, who during the five days of the exhibition transformed the dehydrated leaves of this important agricultural product with skill and dexterity into cigars that were eagerly awaited by the attentive public that followed her demonstrations.
Music and joy
Professor Josefina Chez was in charge of the folkloric performance, presented by the dance group she directs and the group of musicians from MITUR. The first was based on an interaction with the musicians and dancers who explained to those present the origins and styles of the dances: Merengue, Carabiné, Mangulina and Bachata; and a second modality was based on the alternative dance of merengue and bachata, bringing through it the essence of the joy of the Dominican people.
Specialized training
Training was one of the supporting elements of the value proposition presented by the Ministry of Tourism for this edition, with talks on cultural tourism and religious tourism by Milka Hernández, an expert in tourism marketing and Dominican destinations, who took advantage of the destination conferences to show participants the essence of the Caribbean country.
A pavilion with a cultural focus
The pavilion designed by Thinktank in coordination with the outstanding designer and architect Liza Ortega, offered visitors various spaces in which Dominican culture was highlighted, from a handicraft exhibition space to the use of technological elements such as screens and a virtual reality tunnel.
The ambience of corners such as the natural terrace and the coffee tasting stand stood out for their elegance and exhibition at the highest level of the essence of the Dominican Republic, based on colors, smells and the reflection of the most emblematic places of the Quintana Roo heritage. Details that especially seduced the jury that awarded the country the prize for the best stand of this edition of the fair, which undoubtedly showed the country and its great cultural offer.
