This Tuesday, the BHD held a forum on tourism in which sustainability was the central theme. Speakers included Haydée Kuret de Rainieri, founder of the Puntacana Group; David Llibre, president of Asonahores; Paola Serrano, of Mapfre; and Felipe Buhigas of Solunion. The activity was also attended by Steven Puig, president of the bank, and Jacqueline Mora, deputy minister of Tourism of the DR.
During the forum, Kuret de Rainieri indicated that “we were always pioneers in conservation, we wanted to preserve the environment, even Frank said that the height of the hotels should not exceed the height of the coconut trees and we set up coral reefs that were later implemented by the Foundation in other areas, and we recovered the eagle of Hispaniola, and zero garbage. People are sensitized. It is a question of awareness. They become guardians of what is happening. It has to be an effort and a competence of all”.
For his part, Llibre said that “in Asonahores we are passionate about sustainability. It is not only an environmental issue. We have to fight for it to be maintained over time. The personnel play a fundamental role so that the certification continues to develop. Then we are working on certifications. And a third factor: renewable energy and the carbon footprint. We have to redirect that footprint”.
The event was designed to discuss and analyze issues of common interest related to tourism and foreign investment in the DR, within the framework of Fitur 2024, where the president of the bank, Puig, stressed that the forum is a space for learning, exchange of knowledge and good practices to enrich the role of banking in tourism, a sector that the entity has financed “for more than 20 years”.
The forum was divided into two parts. In the first, Bernardo Fuentes, vice-president of Economic Studies at Banco BHD, spoke about the evolution and prospects of the Dominican economy. Mora, technical vice-minister of Tourism, presented how the Ministry promotes tourism investment in the country.
The second part consisted of a panel entitled “Sustainable Tourism: Current situation, perspective, mitigating factors and best practices”, moderated by Luis Molina Maríñez, senior vice-president of Corporate and Business Banking of Banco BHD.
During the panel, topics such as the contribution of environmental protection and community development projects, sustainability practices, social inclusion and its impact on communities, the challenges of the tourism sector in the implementation of sustainable practices, sustainability trends in tourism, and the mitigation of environmental and social risks related to tourism were discussed.
The forum was attended by the DR’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, Juan Bolivar Diaz, as well as government officials, diplomats and consular representatives of the Caribbean country, local officials, Dominican and Spanish businessmen, and BHD executives, among other tourism sector figures.
Source: Arecoa.com
