Two Dominican journalists born abroad compete in Pasaporte Abierto 2024

Santo Domingo.- Among the 13 Dominican nominees vying for the Pasaporte Abierto 2024 International Tourism Journalism Award, to be presented Friday, in Cali, Colombia, two seasoned professionals stand out: Marvin Del Cid, originally from Guatemala, photojournalist for Diario Libre, and Adrian R. Morales, originally from Cuba, tourism editor for Dominican Today and editor of the legendary Bohío magazine.

Del Cid competes in the “Journalistic Investigation” category with his documentary Cacú: A Change for Life, created under the Dominican Republic’s film law. The 73-minute documentary masterfully tells the story of five fishermen from Manresa who transformed from predators of sea turtles and their nests to conservationists.

Morales’ article, Short-Statured Dominicans: Navigating Vacations in Non-Inclusive Environments, published in Dominican Today —the country’s first online English-language newspaper, founded in 2005—, addresses the issues and potential solutions surrounding the lack of inclusivity in tourism for travelers with “dwarfism.” The article is a finalist in the “Recognition of Others” category.

Learn more about the careers of these outstanding and award-winning tourism journalists, who have chosen the Dominican Republic as their permanent home and are now citizens. Through their work, they demonstrate their commitment to Dominican tourism, elevating the country’s name with quality journalism and receiving recognition both locally and internationally. They are a clear example of the positive impact immigration can have.

Marvin Del Cid

A Guatemalan with a degree in Communication Studies and extensive experience in visual and multimedia fields, Marvin has worked for several media outlets in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. His photographs have appeared in significant publications around the world.

He is currently a photojournalist at Grupo Diario Libre, where he also wrote and directed his first feature-length documentary, Cacú, A Change for Life. Additionally, he contributes to Getty Images and is an Expert VR photographer for the 360cities community. He has also taught at the Instituto Tecnológico de las Américas (ITLA) and Altos de Chavón Design School, affiliated with Parsons School of Design in New York, offering courses in non-linear video editing, animation, and 2D composition.

Passionate about environmental protection, Marvin has showcased his photographic work in ten exhibitions, five individual and six collective. He has won several photography awards in and outside the Dominican Republic, including a special mention in the Epifanio Lantigua (PEL) Tourism Journalism Award in 2013 for his work on Dominican Treasures, the PEL Award in 2014 for Sustainable Tourism, and again in 2018 in the Digital Journalism category.

He also won the Americas category of the EWEA photography award (Europe), first place and honorable mention in the First Environmental Journalism Award in the Dominican Republic (2016), second place and honorable mention in the Capture the Wind contest by Ege Haina, Dominican Republic (2017), and first place in the second edition of the Dominican Republic’s Environmental Journalism Award (2017). His documentary was featured at the Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C., and presented at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where it won Best Documentary at the WorldFilm.com festival.

In the making of the Cacú documentary, he collaborated with biologist Omar Shamir Reynoso, who designed a plan to involve Manresa’s fishermen in environmental conservation activities, ultimately protecting the turtles. This initiative has become a conservation model that involves communities and fishermen alike.

Adrian R. Morales González

A journalist, editor, poet, translator and proofreader, Morales holds a degree in English from the University of Havana and a master’s degree in Journalism and Social Communication from the same institution. In Cuba, he worked as a reporter for the Latin American News Agency Prensa Latina and the magazine Somos Jóvenes.

Since 2002, he has lived in Santo Domingo, where he acquired Dominican citizenship. He has worked as editor for several publications, including Mercado, SDQ Magazine, Refugios and Deleite, among other print and digital media outlets. Currently, he is an editor for Bohío magazine and Dominican Today newspaper, and he also serves as an editorial proofreader for the Publications Department at the Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Salomé Ureña (ISFODOSU). He contributes to media outlets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well.

In 2000, he won the ESTI Press Award for his article The Translator: Anonymous Entity or Creator?, granted by the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC) and the national Team of Translators and Interpreters (ESTI). In 1998, Prensa Latina recognized him for being the first journalist to report on the discovery of the black family of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso in Cuba.

For his more than 20 years in tourism journalism, the World Organization of Tourism Journalism (OMPT) awarded him the International Pasaporte Abierto Award for “Career Achievement” in 2018 in Panama. In 2023, he won the Pasaporte Abierto award in the “Journalistic Investigation” category for his article Specialized Tourism for the Rich Variety of the Dominican Republic’s Flora, published in Dominican Today. He served as a judge for the Pasaporte Abierto contest in the 2020/2021 and 2022 editions. He also received the Second Mention at the III FUNGLODE / GFDD Journalism Award in 2009, hosted by the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development.

He has participated in six editions of the Epifanio Lantigua National Tourism Journalism Award, organized by the Dominican Association of Tourism Press (ADOMPRETUR) and the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Mitur), and has been a finalist each time.

In addition to his tourism journalism work, Adrian R. Morales also cultivates literature. He is featured in Cuentos de amor y de abandono, a Spanish-Italian anthology of young Cuban short-story writers (Havana, 2001); Tránsito de fuego / Trânsito de fogo, a Spanish-Portuguese anthology of young Latin American poets (Caracas, 2009); El viaje que habito (Buenos Aires, 2023), a book of travel chronicles compiled by the OMPT; and Antología Voces Eternas, by the Community Poetry Academy of the Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo, 2023). He was also a correspondent for Alhucema: Revista de Literatura y Teatro, a literary and theater journal published in Granada, Spain, where he has published plays, poetry, translations, and articles. He is currently preparing to publish his poetry collection Vals de los Ogros and is working on his first novel.

September 5th: World Tourism Journalist Day

September 5th marks the celebration of World Tourism Journalist Day, a date that emphasizes the importance of communication in tourism and the ethical responsibility of specialized journalists. This commemoration, established in 2018 during the 8th International Congress of Tourism Journalists in Iguazú, highlights the commitment to cultural diversity, respect for the environment, and the promotion of ethical tourism.

Proclaimed by the World Organization of Tourism Journalism, founded by tourism expert Miguel Ledhesma, this day invites reflection on the importance of responsible reporting, contributing to inclusive and sustainable tourism, and recognizes the work of tourism journalists in shaping the image of destinations.

Visit periodismoturistico.org to see the list of nominees for the 2024 Open Passport International Tourism Journalism Award.

To read this article in Spanish, click here.