Analysts agree Dominican Republic tourism will recover in 2022

AT THINK TOURISM, ORGANIZED BY THE SWISS DOMINICAN CHAMBER

Tourism experts considered that the total recovery of the sector will take place in 2023, but that in the Dominican Republic, it will take place in 2022.

Analysts, who participated in the Think Tourism event, organized by the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, agree that the total recovery in the Dominican Republic will be in 2022.

The projection for this year, 2021, would reach 48% favored by vaccination plans and public-private policies to reactivate tourism.

“In relation to the Dominican Republic, the improvement in health indicators in the United States and an expansionary policy, predict that the pace of recovery will positively impact the arrival of tourists to the country,” explained Gaetan Bucher, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Dominican Tourism Switzerland

For his part, Federico Sommaruga, director of Emerging Markets and Special Projects at Switzerland Tourism, highlighted the opportunities of the post-covid environment.

“If we take it as an opportunity, we will all have new opportunities to be successful in the future. Switzerland and the Dominican Republic share common elements to offer sustainable tourism that has an ever greater impact,” he said, speaking of the” Swisstainable “policy of sustainable development of Swiss tourism.

Meanwhile,  Carlos Martin-Rios from l’École Hôtelière de Laussane explained that the strategic lines necessary to relaunch tourism in the Dominican Republic involve a commitment to sustainability, according to a statement.

“We must invest in new technologies, strengthen the preparation of human capital and establish effective multistakeholder cooperation models,” he said.

Likewise, José Sánchez-Fung, ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Switzerland, said that in Europe, the recovery is further lagged by a slow vaccination campaign. Still, the perspective is to grow by 4% in 2021. “You have to think about the impact of the measures, on the capacity of the authorities to maintain macroeconomic balance at the global level.”

Jacqueline Mora, Technical Vice Minister of the Ministry of Tourism, said that the rebound in Dominican flights led mainly by tourists from the United States is accompanied by the reservation of rooms per night above the 2020 records.

“The tourist who comes to our country has many different profiles but sustainability has to be a transversal element that integrates all the actors, so that there is a commitment to it,” he emphasized.

For the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism ( Asonahores ), Rafael Blanco Tejera, we must take advantage of the pause that the pandemic has generated. “We have to rely on the public-private sector, with long-term policies and strategies. It is time to do things better than ever to be promoters of well-being.”

Meanwhile, Roberto Herrera, country manager of Interenergy Group for the Dominican Republic, highlighted the importance of putting technology at the service of tourists. “The exponential technological advances and the pandemic have caused new trends that show a more sophisticated and demanding tourist, specialized tourism.”

In this sense, the Minister of the Environment, Orlando Jorge Mera, underlined the necessary preservation of the ecosystem as part of the country’s tourist attraction. “Climate change is a threat that we suffer from our condition as an island. That is why it is important that we join forces to combat it.”