The Atlantic Tourist Train in Puerto Plata is a new attraction that will be added to the complementary offer of the destination. The private initiative will offer a city tour through the most emblematic places of the city, highlighting the attractions, history and culture, not only of the city of San Felipe, but of the entire province and its municipalities.
For the project it is planned to go through some streets of the historic center and the boardwalk with its main attractions; the tour will take approximately 45 minutes without stops; a capacity of 30 passengers per train is expected, leaving from the Municipal Parking and returning to the same point, so it will also help the flow of traffic in the Historic Center.
During the tour there will be a multilingual, emotional and educational narrative, since it is a project analyzed under a prestigious consulting and appraisal firm of tourism projects, it has no relation or similarity with projects presented in the past, according to a press release.
In this regard, Carlos Rodolí Conde, promoter of the project, said that “the main tourist and cultural cities of the world have this service, so we are excited that Puerto Plata can also offer it. This will allow us to offer tours of the city and its most significant and valuable points. In addition, in the economic aspect, it will translate into a greater economic benefit for the area, as more cruise passengers will leave the port and new tourists and visitors will come to the city, which will motivate moreover, to consume in local businesses in the area.
He affirmed that all the studies carried out in the destination indicate that more excursion options are required to meet the high demand of visitors that are arriving and those that will be added according to future projections.
“The decision to install a tourist train in the city, favors the work of the existing cab drivers, as well as other sectors, as it will contribute to energize the activities of the area by offering visitors a new and modern possibility to know the cultural and tourist heritage of the Bride of the Atlantic, during a non-stop tour, so for sure many visitors would opt to take a cab to return to the place of their interest,” he said.
Rodoli, together with the promoters of the project reiterated their interest in contributing to the promotion and tourist development of the area in a sustainable and competitive way, without harming members of the local transportation sector, since, on the contrary they understand there are more possibilities that a client of the train is a potential passenger of the cab services, since clients who opt for the wide proposal of attractions that the whole destination offers outside the city center, have less possibility that they use their services.
“At all times we have expressed our interest in complementing the existing offers, not replacing them. Any tourist who wishes to hire the services of cabs or any other transportation service, will be able to continue doing so, as they are very different products and services, so the demand will not fall in the proportions they have expressed,” Rodoli expressed.
He also indicated that all the details contemplated in the project were presented to representatives of the leaders and members of the tourist cab sector, “during the meeting we requested and held on September 6th, being the first to know the initiative, which we socialized with a view to any adjustment or suggestion, however, they unilaterally decided to take the issue to the media after the meeting”.
He emphasized that “in no destination in the world do all tourists choose a single tour option, because there is a diversity of tastes, needs, personalities and even physical conditions, each one chooses the one that best suits their interests, expectations or budget. Therefore, the commitment of a tourist city is to be able to satisfy the different market niches”.
In order to put the new attraction into operation, the promoters of the project are exhausting the registration and permit applications with the competent authorities and expressed their confidence that the authorities will value the multiple benefits for the area that the Puerto Plata Tourist Train brings with it.
“It is time for Puerto Plata to continue growing as a tourist destination. What we are looking for is to incorporate the best international practices of successful destinations, which will allow us to have a renewed, robust, high quality tourism offer with an extraordinary service”, in addition to creating the conditions for new investments that benefit the majority to continue arriving to the province”, concluded Rodolí.
Source: Arecoa
