The main Spanish hotel chains will invest US$580 million in the Dominican Republic until 2024, the Ministry of Tourism announced on Wednesday.
The investment plans were announced by eight executives of the Spanish hotel chains present in the country during a private lunch with President Luis Abinader, which took place on Tuesday in Santo Domingo.
The new investments will be aimed at raising the quality of the offer of the 16 hotel chains belonging to the Inverotel association and will also serve to promote social and environmental sustainability actions, according to a press release from the Ministry.
At the meeting, the hoteliers presented the Government with some priority areas in which they believe action should be taken to improve the competitiveness of Dominican tourism, including public safety, energy and water infrastructure, health and tax facilities and competition regulations.
The Government valued the announcement of the investments as “an important boost for the Dominican Republic” as a tourist destination on the part of a group of companies that currently has 72 hotels in the country.
The Spanish hotel offer represents almost 45% of the rooms built in the Dominican Republic and generates around 43,000 direct jobs, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism.
President Abinader thanked the Spanish families for believing in the Dominican Republic and invited them to continue betting on this destination as he told them that “the best years are yet to come”.
Last September, the Dominican Republic surpassed pre-pandemic tourist arrival data and expects to reach record numbers in 2022.
The president of the Piñero Group and Inverotel, Encarna Piñero, as well as owners or senior executives of other Spanish chains such as Riu, Meliá, Iberostar, Palladium, Princess, Catalonia and Grupo Fuerte, were present at the meeting.
