The Dominican Republic is one of the countries with the best conditions for investment in the tourism sector due to its geographical location, legal security and solid political stability, among other factors.
Within the framework of the visit to the country of the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, the entity launched the first Dominican Republic Tourism Investment Guide, which has been developed together with the Ministry of Tourism, ProDominicana and with the special support of technicians from Banreservas and Banco Popular Dominicano.
The main objective of this guide is to attract, promote and retain investment in sustainable tourism in the Dominican Republic, offering strategic information on the business climate and the growth policy of the current government in this sector.
This promotional tool also has current data on the infrastructure network, investment incentives, and a detailed outline of the country’s competitive landscape.
According to Zurab Pololikashvili, the Dominican Republic is a safe country for any type of investment in the Dominican tourism system, because “it is a destination that has proven to be resilient and offers opportunities for all”.
MITUR’s Vice-Minister of International Cooperation, Carlos Andrés Peguero, highlighted that this guide has been the result of a joint effort of the public and private sectors, in which the banking sector played a special role. He also emphasized that through the investment panorama presented in the document, an interesting benchmarking on foreign direct investment in tourism, our regulatory framework and the portfolio of tourism investment opportunities is shown.
Natalia Bayona, director of innovation, education and investment of the UNWTO, the Dominican Republic in the last two years has had a characteristic increase in its economy.
Foreign direct investments (FDI), in the Dominican Republic’s tourism sector during 2021 reached US$942 million, which means that, despite the aftermath left by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s economy recovered and acquired a significant percentage, of which, 38% is attributed to the tourism sector.
The total employment recovery exceeded 300,000 jobs, of which more than 65,000 formal jobs, 90,000 direct informal jobs and around 185,000 indirect jobs in sub-sectors such as food and beverages, transportation, and other activities related to the tourism value chain were recovered.
This means that investors have responded, as evidenced by the level of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Dominican Republic, which is one of the main sources of foreign exchange earnings for the Caribbean country.
According to statistics from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, during the period 2010 to 2020, foreign exchange income derived from FDI was US$27,934 million, which generated an annual average of US$2,539 million, remaining stable and at a sustainable rate.
Marcial Mestre, investment director of ProDominicana and on behalf of Biviana Ribeiro, its executive director, valued very positively the effort made to achieve this important tool for investment promotion.
The UNWTO investment tourism guide for the Dominican Republic has been produced in printed and digital formats, offering a QR code for the latter version, which guarantees a greater reach at the time of its global dissemination.
