The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, inaugurated today the new tourist and cargo terminal Taino Bay, in Puerto Plata, province of the same name.
The work, executed with an investment of more than 80 million dollars, has three berthing positions, a passenger reception center with a capacity to accommodate 14,000 cruise passengers simultaneously and will generate some 1,500 direct jobs and 3,500 indirect jobs.
This Wednesday, in the presence of the head of state, a cruise ship was received, it was the MSC Seahore with 1,700 tourists on board, coming from Miami, United States.
During the ceremony, Abinader pointed out that the country will receive the most important international cruise companies, such as Royal Caribbean Cruises, Virgin Voyages, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, TUI Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
He indicated that the projection for the year 2022 is 750 thousand visitors, a figure which he considered could increase and that will represent an average income of 75 million dollars, based on the average calculation of spending of a cruiser, which is estimated at 100 per passenger.
“And as President of the Republic, I welcome this and other investment projects whose main philosophy is the economic recovery of our country after the great difficulties we have gone through due to the global pandemic of the coronavirus”, he added.
He also announced that they will tender in January the project of the iconic Puerto Plata-Sosúa beach, with a redesign and construction for a budget of about 400 million pesos (seven million dollars).
For his part, the director of Taino Bay, Mauricio Hamui, described the port as a great work of infrastructure where docks, landfills, dredging and piles were made at a depth of more than 40 meters in record time.
“This is thanks to the efforts of our people who worked tirelessly to make this a reality,” he said.
Finally, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, emphasized that the country is facing a historical recovery of the sector, which has been confirmed by the World Travel and Tourism Council and the World Tourism Organization, who put the Dominican Republic as an example of tourism management in the midst of the pandemic.
