The projections for the cruise business in the Dominican Republic are positive in terms of investment, number of visits, tourist satisfaction, number of ports and improvement of the experiences offered to visitors.
This is how Rafael Blanco Tejera, president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores) describes it, who is sure that the most important thing to promote this activity is that in the destinations there is order, products and services, so that cruise passengers can enjoy their stay.
Blanco believes that in the Dominican Republic “we are organizing our destination and providing high quality services”. Thanks to this, businessmen are planning to make more investments, and the satisfaction of tourists coming to the country is above the average of the Caribbean region, according to his analysis.
This season, 800,000 tourists are expected to arrive. The businessman considers that cruise tourism is growing together with the tourism sector in the last months.
Average Spending
The average expenditure of cruise vacationers is around US$80 per person, per day, which also impacts small and medium-sized businesses in the communities near the docks.
For the president of Asonahores, the main importance of the arrival of tourists aboard cruise ships is that it impacts communities that do not receive the traditional tourism demand, as is the case of Puerto Plata, Samaná, Santo Domingo and, to a lesser extent, La Romana.
The administration of President Luis Abinader has proposed the construction and expansion of more ports such as those of Samaná and Pedernales.
Annual Conference
Asonahores is one of the entities participating in the conference that the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) is holding in the Dominican Republic from October 11-14.
President Abinader and the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, led the welcoming ceremony yesterday for hundreds of representatives from the 40 countries attending. The event seeks to analyze the challenges and the future of the industry’s operations as it returns to normal after the pandemic.
The FCCA was founded in 1972 and brings together 22 affiliated cruise companies, with more than 100 ships.
“As president of the Republic, I want to thank the interest and effort of all of you to strengthen our ties, continue working together and complete this successful voyage,” Abinader told the audience.
The president said that “the Dominican Republic is in fashion and we have returned to conquer the world from our coasts and ports”. He predicted that “the best is yet to come, and we will do it with all of you as allies.
The Minister of Tourism corroborated that more and more cruise passengers continue to arrive in the Dominican Republic and pointed out the economic impact that their presence has on the different destinations.
In addition to the presence of the representatives of the main cruise companies, the conclave was attended by the Ministers of Tourism of Honduras, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Also in attendance are the heads of Tourism of Barbados and the Cayman Islands, and of Economic Development of Curaçao and Grenada; as well as the Secretary of Tourism of Sinaloa, Mexico, and other government authorities of the insular Caribbean.
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