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BiggerCollado: “Tourism contributes almost 60% of the Dominican Republic economy”
The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, stressed that tourism currently contributes around 60% of the economy of the Dominican Republic.
“It is clearly evidenced that tourism is contributing almost 60% of the economy of our country and that far from tourism being a piña colada or being beach and fun, it is the main industry of the DR,” he said.
He specified that on the subject of air tourism, which is measured by the Central Bank, there is a growth of 36% in relation to 2022, while the world is in recession.
Collado recalled that Héctor Valdez Albizu, governor of the Central Bank, said that tourism is supporting between 25 and 30% of the economy in recent months, according to the program El Gobierno de la Mañana.
He stated that such figures fill him with satisfaction because they have exceeded in many cases his own projections.
“To have numbers higher than our own records for the year 2022 is extremely strong. In 2022 we were competing with the recovery and with the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019, but now we are competing with our administration’s own results,” he added.
This guy is building his case for a raise! Every day there’s a new proclamation from him. While the regular citizen is ignored, tourism gets all the attention.
This is due to the fact that the other sectors of the economy are crashing. For example the construction industry. Read the latest banco central report.As the various sectors decline it makes the tourism sector appear better.
Interest rate hikes have about killed the economy. Yet inflation is still with us.
The Ministry of Tourism has a huge budget and it sort of defies its needs. Tourism is a natural occurrence for the country. There are other industries and money makers that need attention, to be strengthened to help diversity the economy so the RD will not be dependent on tourism. The pandemic pointed out the weakness of depending on tourism to support the treasury. The country has to wear economic suspenders with a belt. If one breaks down the other continues support.
Tourism should take a back seat on the country’s focus on the economy for now. Collado needs to rest himself from chest thumping.
The significance of tourism in the Dominican Republic’s economic denotes the lack of development in the social sector: the health care sector is a shame, and extremely expensive. Copayments for access to a doctor are similar to the United States. The poor die for lack of adequate health care. I challenge any government official to dispute the data. Education is a disaster. Kids 5 – 10 years old having to walk several kilometers to get to school. Where? In Moca’s country side. Public transportation in most cities, except for Santiago and the capital is nonexistent. People have to take a motorcycle ride that costs U$1.75.. The country doesn’t have potable water, everybody must buy a 5 gallon to drink for $1.00.. Hygiene is a water unknown in the culture of most dominicans. Garbage everywhere. In Jarabacoa, malls in restaurants all share the same facilities full of shit, yes, human feces, it’s disgusting. And The traffic to Santo Domingo is the worst in the Americas.. Total chaos. I’ve been visiting Dominican Republic since 2002, and the social infrastructure has not improved. Last of all, the financial sector is great, but very costly, credit cards cost 5% monthly charge. Then what’s nice about the country? The people are friendly, the countryside and the beaches are beautiful. Excellent road, great business climate. However, there is wide degree of inequality and the government doesn’t care.
The DR needs to keep investing time and money to bring in more near shoring companies and industries. Bring more manufacturing job that are moving away from China, I’m optimistic we will see a lot of companies move to the DR, the location is prime, DR has a stable economy, stable politics. Growing infrastructure thanks to the tourism industries.so far it is investing some of the money in roads and ports,
To encourage companies to come to the DR, the government must deal with street crime. Business and tourists are hesitant to come to a country where they do not feel safe walking on the streets. If you want new businesses and more tourist dollars, reduce street crime.
That includes the police!
There is no crime statistics ; citizens are denied from reporting crime.