In view of the interest being generated by different tourist destinations in the Dominican Republic for film productions, the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores), Rafael Blanco Tejera, indicated that this industry is becoming a great support and complement for Dominican tourism.
He agreed with the recent declarations of Felipe Vicini that the area of Juan Dolio is registering a growing demand of visitors, driven, among other aspects, by the boom of the film industry in the country and therefore needs more hotel rooms (Vicini: “We need more hotels in Juan Dolio, there is no longer room for a soul”).
“In the case of Juan Dolio, we are seeing a growth in lodging because the film studio (Pinewood Indomina) is located there and therefore a lot of demand is being generated,” he said.
The head of Asonahores informed arecoa.com that there are several business groups that are evaluating investing in the construction of several hotels.
“We as an entity already have information that there are groups evaluating hotels there, that is to say, that Juan Dolio, at the moment and as a product of the film industry, could have an important resurgence in the tourism industry”, he emphasized.
Blanco Tejera indicated that for the moment there is no exact number of new rooms that the zone will have, but he did remember that “everything will depend on the current needs, since the hotels that are used for this type of projects (lodging of the cinematographic personnel) are not large, but will probably be many small and medium hotels that will serve the productions”.
He also said that as Juan Dolio is a tourist and real estate destination with the lodging boom, both segments have complemented each other. “Now there is conventional tourism, real estate tourism and retirement tourism”.
The executive indicated that the destination, in spite of being in a process of readjustment to improve the beaches and the wastewater treatment plant, does have the conditions to sustain the infrastructures that are planned to be built, in addition to the already existing ones.
“For the new constructions, Ceiztur already has a program to supply the hotel infrastructures that are needed and that determines which are the priorities in each destination, then the external and environmental needs are identified and at the end the construction and development process,” he said.
