The president of the National Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores) assured that the recovery of tourism is a reality and that it has once again become the number one economic activity in the country at the time of the opening of the Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange (DATE 2022 ), the leading tourism fair that takes place in the country.

Rafael Blanco Tejera, president of the entity, highlighted that the country had received more than 2.2 million tourists in the first four months of the year, with more than seven million by the end of the year. In addition, he highlighted that they have more jobs in the sector than before the pandemic, consolidating tourism as the central pillar of the national economy and post-Covid-19 recovery.

The start of DATE 2022, in its twenty-second installment, was headed by President Luis Abinader, who cut the ribbon together with the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, Blanco Tejera, and Simón Barceló, for the Barceló Group.

The president of Asonahores said that “there is no other sector in the Dominican economy that has more productive chains than tourism; To talk about tourism is to talk about agriculture, industry, transportation, foreign exchange generation, jobs, and of course the thousands of MSMEs that supply goods and services to the sector.”

For Asonahores, Dominican tourism is at its best, as was demonstrated this week with the recognition of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which awarded the country number one in the world in the recovery of tourism.

The DATE, which takes place today at the Hotel Barceló Convention Center in Bávaro, with more than 800 delegates from more than 25 countries of the main tourist emitters for the country, is considered the main activity for the commercialization of the national tourist product. It receives more than 150 supplier and buyer companies from the main issuing markets.