Tourism is an industry that, with each new traveler, takes more weight in the statistics and economy of the Dominican Republic. Only in the first eight months of this year, the arrival of non-resident foreigners in the country reached 7,079,991 visitors, for a growth of 25% compared to the same period of 2022, when only 5,665,914 arrived.
Coping with this number of visitors impacts the country’s finances as well as the economy of the companies that support this sector. According to the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores), David Llibre, it would generate up to DR$300,000 million in 2023.
David Llibre cited such information offered by the Ministry of Tourism, based on official data, which indicates that in 2022 the goods and services acquired by the tourism sector to the national productive apparatus totaled more than DR$288 billion, of which 17% were products of agricultural origin.
During his discussion, he referred to Ministry of Tourism estimates on the impact on the life of the country every time 10,000 travelers are added to the number of arrivals. “For every 10,000 tourists arriving, DR$100,000 in tax revenues are generated, US$12 million in gross foreign exchange earnings, 882 new jobs are created and 122 new rooms are required,” he said.
He highlighted that the 5.5 million tourists received until August 2023 means a growth of 19% compared to 2019 and 13% in relation to the year 2022, a period that he qualified as “very good figures”, for which he considers that this increase represents a direct impact on Dominican society.
For Llibre these data are “good news for tourism companies, but even more so for the country, which has in this sector a firm pillar to support the growth of the economy”.
In view of the data presented, he understands that they position tourism as a very important ally of commerce, industry, services and agricultural activity, due to the direct, indirect and induced impact on productive activities. “Undoubtedly, we are an engine of development that has a direct or indirect impact on most of the other productive sectors,” he said.
He also took the opportunity to cite the Central Bank report, which states that tourism activity continues to “maintain its position as the sector with the highest incidence in the aggregate growth of the Monthly Economic Activity Indicator, so far in 2023. The dynamism of this sector responds mainly to the external demand for tourism services offered by the country”.
Exhibition
Asonahores: The fair will run until Friday at the Blue Mall, where it occupies an area of more than 4000 square meters, which confirms it as the largest indoor activity of its kind in the country.
The Asonahores Commercial Exposition registered a new record with the participation of 175 companies that occupied 342 stands in more than 4000 square meters at the Blue Mall Punta Cana, which confirms this business event as the largest indoor event of its kind in the country, informed Andrés Marranzini, executive vice president of Asonahores and responsible for the organization and management of the event.
“Today’s final figure speaks for itself. We have 342 stands, occupying 175 exhibiting companies and 61 sponsors, 20 conferences, press conferences and agreements and the minimum estimate is 5000 visitors during the three days,” he said when speaking at the opening ceremony of the meeting.
In this 35th meeting, he explained, “we will receive participants from the finance, energy, communications, technology, information technology, security, kitchen equipment and utensils, food, beverages, furniture, construction, sports equipment, among others”.
Marranzini also informed that organizations such as the United States Trade Promotion Agency and Costa Rica’s PROCOMER are participating for the first time.
Source: Eldinero.com
