The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recognized the Dominican Republic for its successful recovery in the tourism industry and its efficient management of sanitary protocols in the different destinations of the Caribbean country.
The award was presented by UNWTO Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili, to President Luis Abinader in the presence of the Minister of Tourism, David Collado.
The award was presented at a meeting with more than 200 travel agents, tour operators and airline owners, as part of the celebration of the 42nd version of the International Tourism Fair (Fitur), which officially begins this Wednesday.
The UNWTO secretary general highlighted the management and sanitary protocols applied in the Dominican Republic to guarantee safe tourism, thus achieving the most successful recovery of the industry in the entire region, reaching record figures in tourist arrivals.
President Abinader thanked for the distinction and explained that since his arrival to the presidency, the recovery of tourism has been one of the main priorities, given the contributions it represents for the Dominican economy.
Meanwhile, Minister Collado attributed the success of the recovery to the political decision of President Abinader to the joint effort of the public and private sectors, hand in hand with the National Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores), which was represented by its president.
“In the Tourism Cabinet we have spared no effort to achieve this recovery. Tourism has a human face for us,” said the Minister of Tourism, who presented the destinations of the Dominican Republic to the more than 200 tour operators and travel agencies that attended the Eurostar Hotel in this city.
Also present at the event were the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of Spain, Reyes Moroto; the Dominican ambassador to Spain, Juan Bolivar Diaz; the Dominican ambassador to the WTO, Anibal de Castro; the president of Banco Popular Dominicano, Christopher Paniagua; the president of the Madrid Trade Fair Institute (Ifema), José Vicente de los Mozos; the general administrator of Banco de Reservas, Samuel Pereyra; the administrative minister of the presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, and more than 100 businessmen from the country.
Minister Collado explained to the different agencies and tour operators that the Dominican Republic is the only destination in the region where 100% of the employees of the tourism sector are fully vaccinated with two doses, and that it has the lowest incidence rate of contagion in tourist resorts.
“For this reason, the country is a safe travel destination,” he said.
And he added that, thanks to its recovery, the Dominican Republic has become a tourism reference in the region.
Fitur 2022, the take-off
This year’s version of Fitur -the 42nd- will bring together from 19 to 22 a total of 6,933 participants with the presence of all autonomous communities, companies and destinations from 107 countries, 70 of them with official international representation, led by the Dominican Republic, which this time participates as Fitur 2022 Partner Country. There will be 600 exhibitors.
