The country’s tourism sector is in full recovery, assured yesterday the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, who revealed that when he took office only 200,000 tourists arrived between August and September, but that between June and July the figure shot up to 1,25,500 visitors.
“We have a clear and palpable growth”, said Collado who in relation to the flights, between August and September, affirmed that more than 3,700 arrived and between June and July the increase of flights from other countries was 8,300.
Speaking about the availability of hotel rooms, Collado explained that so far in his administration, some 73,000 rooms have been opened, as opposed to the 15,000 that were available when he took office at the Ministry of Tourism.
Direct jobs and the amounts collected
According to the main official of the Ministry of Tourism, the country has been able to recover some 63 thousand jobs directly in the hotel sector and between 30 thousand to 40 thousand work spaces indirectly.
“We have had revenues of 2.5 billion dollars in the first semester of this year and the most important thing is that we are moving forward, only with the United States market,” said Collado.
He added that the significant bulk of visitors from areas such as Canada and Europe have yet to be integrated and that when this happens the increase will continue, since the Canadian market alone receives one million tourists a year for the country.
Highlights
For Collado, among the vital aspects to make possible the almost immediate return of foreign vacationers, was the strengthening and constant supervision in the tourist poles of the sanitary protocols with Safe Travels (the first global seal in safety and hygiene for travel and tourism, in response to COVID-19 and similar outbreaks) and Bureau Veritas S.A., a company that ensures the services and certification.
Worldwide recognition
WTTC and ForwardKeys
Minister David Collado did not want to leave aside the double recognition that the Dominican Republic has received from the World Tourism Organization and its secretary general Zurab Pololikashvili, as the reference country in the management of the pandemic and the recovery of tourism in the world. “We have been recognized by
WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) for the management of the public-private partnership and also recognized by ForwardKeys Travel Industry Trends,” he said optimistically. He reiterated that without a doubt what is happening today in the country is an unprecedented recovery of tourism, despite all the obstacles put by the Covid-19 pandemic.
