The future of tourism in the Dominican Republic “will depend largely” on its regulation

Dominican tourism maintains steady growth within an increasingly robust context of competitiveness and diversification. However, its expansion is not without challenges. For this reason, authorities and private-sector representatives agreed that land-use planning will be the industry’s main regulatory challenge over the next 10 years.

In that context, the Vice Minister of Tourism, Jacqueline Mora, stressed that the future of the industry will depend largely on the country’s ability to adequately plan the growth of its territories, taking into account the particular characteristics of each destination.

He explained that tourism has evolved towards a model in which the territory and the destination experience carry more weight than the hotel infrastructure itself.

“Tourism is changing because the population, the world, is changing and looking for something different. Today, the territory, the destination, is something else entirely. The hotel is now complementary; the destination is the main attraction, and the characteristics of the destination will create a radically different kind of tourism,” he added.

Mora indicated that other challenges related to land use regulation include legal security for investors and tourism incentive legislation, which may require adjustments in the future to harmonize with land use plans and ensure development in accordance with the specific conditions of each area.

“And there are other challenges tied to that (territorial regulation), obviously, the legal security of the investor in tourism; we have an incentive law that we would possibly have to review to accompany these territorial planning laws, which are based on the very nature and diversity of each territory,” he considered.

For his part, the president of the Dominican Association of Tourism and Real Estate Companies (Adeti), Andrés Marranzini, highlighted that during the discussion of the law, the sector advocated incorporating tourism territorial planning plans as a specific category within the regulations.

“The land-use planning law places municipal leadership as a fundamental actor and definitely expects the technical capacity within the municipalities to be up to the level of the legislation, and that, for those of us who know the tourist destinations, is a very high risk,” he noted.

Despite its location, he added that tourist destinations have a national impact, so decisions about their development must be guided by technical and long-term criteria, according to Diario Libre.

“The challenge of what territorial planning legislation implies, particularly for those of us who want to develop projects and take care of existing projects, lies in the technical capacity (of the municipalities) to implement an instrument that is meant to take care beyond today and foresee far beyond tomorrow,” he added.

Both executives agreed that the correct application of land-use planning will be a key factor in sustaining the growth of Dominican tourism over the next decade.