Veloz: Active occupancy in Punta Cana for Easter Week

OCCUPANCIES EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 80% CAPACITY FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEK

Great expectations in the tourist area with vaccination and sanitary protocols

The DR has a competitive advantage over other Caribbean destinations.

Following the start of the vaccination day in the country by the Ministry of Public Health to counteract the incidence of Covid-19, the tourist destination of Punta Cana launched the procedure of facilities for residents of the area.

The said plan has been valued by the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism Projects of the East (Asoleste), Ernesto Veloz, as he considers that the vaccination plan will raise the occupancy of the hotel zone for Easter.

“We have an allocation of vaccinations. The Puntacana Group was among those who participated in the purchase directly, but the Dominican State manages it. The tourism sector is being prioritized to see if during Easter Week we have the destination with the highest number of doses administered since that will give us an important advantage over the other Caribbean destinations,” he added.

In that sense, he expressed to arecoa.com that they expect a higher occupancy for the holiday week than the current one, after the realization, next Friday, March 12, of a meeting in the area with the Minister of Tourism, David Collado.

“We have to comply with the limitation imposed by the Cabinet of Tourism in the occupation. After the meeting and thanks to the improvement in the low incidence of the virus, plus the vaccination that is carried out in the area, we hope to increase further the possibility of hosting more people in the resorts,” he emphasized.

The executive said that they only allow 60 to 70% occupancy, depending on the resort. Hence, they aspire to increase it to at least 80% for Easter Week “if the drop in cases and the vaccination process continue.”

“We can fill the hotels during Easter Week due to the facilities that the Government is providing and with the compliance of the protocols established in each one of the hotels,” he said.

Veloz explained that for this, the goal of the destination is to have Punta Cana free of Covid-19 after vaccinating all those involved in the sector.

He indicated that obviously in compliance with the plan and the order of the health entity, which ordered that the elderly should be provided with the first doses and then the process would begin with the hotel employees and their families, to continue with Higüey, which is the head of the area.

He said that for the vaccination day in the East zone and Higüey, approximately 400,000 doses had been destined (there can be more).

“They can be, more or less, remembering that everything is being done with the supervision of the Ministry of Public Health. They are in charge of everything since all we do is to provide the facilities and the logistics,” he said.