Official announces relaunch of Dominican Republic?s icon tourism region

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windeguy

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I hope it helps.

From
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/to...ch-of-Dominican-Republics-icon-tourism-region



Santo Domingo.- Tourism minister Francisco Javier Garcia on Tuesday said he heads a committee that includes all of Puerto Plata?s sectors to relaunch that tourism region, begun in the 1980s, the country?s first.

He said the plan includes an aggressive ad campaign in Spain, France and Canada, including a new promotion he received yesterday, to be shown in the United States. ?It?s now possible to say that a true tourism relaunching plan for Puerto Plata has been elaborated.?

Garcia affirmed that the designed plan aims to restore the tourism region?s former splendor to attract the tourists that had visited it previously. ?Puerto Plata is not only one of the country?s most complete tourist destinations, it?s one of the Caribbean?s most complete tourist destinations, and the investments that have been done the only thing required is the correct and adequate promotion.?

The official, whose statement comes after newspaper El Caribe published several articles on the closing of several hotels and the zone?s economic crisis, affirmed that Tourism will focus exclusively on promoting the tourism offer of the ?Bride of the Atlantic? locally and abroad. ?Puerto Plata has the most complete tourist offer and lacks only the joint work of all the clusters and representative sectors.?

Garcia spoke during the launch of the new internal Tourism ad campaign ?Dare to know your country,? to spur Dominicans to discover their nation?s wonders.
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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Cleaning up the garbage would help a lot. The government, both locally and country wide needs to do a massive eco-education plan, oraganized barrio clean ups, prizes of some sort for cleanest neighbourhood, more trashcans, enforcement, beautification of more than just the parke. Then Playa Dorado needs to update their resorts etc Next the government needs to lower the aircraft taxes and fuel taxes. There is a lot of competition for tourists dollars
 
Robert

Robert

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Throwing some money at advertising is not going to solve the problem, they just don't get it :(

The area needs a long term plan, formulated by all sectors, backed by private and government funding. The area needs re-branding, along with infrastructure changes.

This is a knee jerk reaction due to pressure from the press, just like the port project.
 
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catcherintherye

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For the past several weeks, the new mayor of Sosua, Ilana, has had crews of men cleaning trash off the streets. They collected tons of garbage, even cleaning up vacant lots.

It is efforts such as this that will help to trn the area around. When people see that there are those who care and who are taking positive steps, perhaps others will begin to contribute in some positive way.

All the arm-chair generals sitting around tsk-tsking and complaining isn't helping a bit.
 
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rsg

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You can clean up all the garbage you want, including the hookers, but you still need to get the people to come....

The greedy Dominicans continue to have the highest exit taxes of any Caribean Country...:ermm:...They will really be in trouble when Cuba opens the doors...
 
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catcherintherye

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I agree. The taxes on airline ticket are way too high, but cleaning up the trash is a good start. After all, it is better to something than to simply throw up one's hands and not do anything.
 
cobraboy

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Robert said:
Throwing some money at advertising is not going to solve the problem, they just don't get it :(

The area needs a long term plan, formulated by all sectors, backed by private and government funding. The area needs re-branding, along with infrastructure changes.

This is a knee jerk reaction due to pressure from the press, just like the port project.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

Problem they face is cognitive dissonance. If tourists get "bought" by advertising and the experience doesn't match what they ~thought~ they bought, it makes matters even worse.

Lipstick on a pig...
 
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JuanDolioLiving

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cleaning up the country and customer service satifation,

It is not only about how much taxes they charged it is also about a good customer service along with human resources
 
AlterEgo

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catcherintherye said:
For the past several weeks, the new mayor of Sosua, Ilana, has had crews of men cleaning trash off the streets. They collected tons of garbage, even cleaning up vacant lots.

It is efforts such as this that will help to trn the area around. When people see that there are those who care and who are taking positive steps, perhaps others will begin to contribute in some positive way.

All the arm-chair generals sitting around tsk-tsking and complaining isn't helping a bit.
Click to expand...

This is really good news, I hope they keep it up and it isn't a one-time fix. It's a major problem all over the DR, someone needs to start a campaign like the US did decades ago. Remember the commercial with the Indian crying as he looked at all the litter?

AE
 
Robert

Robert

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AlterEgo said:
This is really good news, I hope they keep it up and it isn't a one-time fix. It's a major problem all over the DR, someone needs to start a campaign like the US did decades ago. Remember the commercial with the Indian crying as he looked at all the litter?

AE
Click to expand...

In Santo Domingo we have billboard campaigns showing beaches full of trash. The problem is, it's just more advertising with no substance, planning or education etc etc etc.

Cleaning up trash goes a long way, as this is by far the #1 complaint of tourists. But you need to combine this with education (schools), planning and follow up etc.
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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AlterEgo said:
This is really good news, I hope they keep it up and it isn't a one-time fix. It's a major problem all over the DR, someone needs to start a campaign like the US did decades ago. Remember the commercial with the Indian crying as he looked at all the litter?

AE
Click to expand...

I found the commercial:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m4ozVMxzNAA?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/m4ozVMxzNAA?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

AE
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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catcherintherye said:
For the past several weeks, the new mayor of Sosua, Ilana, has had crews of men cleaning trash off the streets. They collected tons of garbage, even cleaning up vacant lots.

It is efforts such as this that will help to trn the area around. When people see that there are those who care and who are taking positive steps, perhaps others will begin to contribute in some positive way.

All the arm-chair generals sitting around tsk-tsking and complaining isn't helping a bit.
Click to expand...

Exactly-actions not words
 
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windeguy

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I do think that advertising the north coast will be important, but not sufficient as others have pointed out. All of the press of late has been related Punta Cana and the east coast.
 
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catcherintherye

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As Bob pointed out, actions speak louder than words, and it will take more than any one thing to make a substantial difference.

However, each sustainable and effective action will increase the possibility of long-term success.

Advertising is an essential element of an overall plan of action, and should not be considered the end product. It is just a piece of the puzzle.
 
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pedrochemical

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When people speak of Puerto Plata and tourist dollars they often mean Playa Dorada.

This place has become grotty.
I would not want to spend a holiday there.
5 Years ago it was still just about OK but what it needs is some 'wow' factor.

It needs to become a place that people want to be.
It needs to compete with the newer AIs in Punta Cana.

Now for me, Puerto Plata is so much more than just Playa Dorada and it also has much more of a community vibe - it is a real place rather than a contrivance that exists because of the tourism industry.
It has a soul and a history.

Problem is that the mass tourist market looking for a cheap yet classic white sand, safe Caribbean beach are quite frankly better off in Punta Cana as things stand.

(Yes I realise that Playa Dorada is on the Atlantic Coast.)
 
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catcherintherye

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If things were left simply to SECTUR not much would get done.

At a recent meeting in POP, the minister was quite clear that is the responsibility everyone with an interest in seeing the north coast is successful.

In other words, SECTUR can only do so much. It is up to everyone else to ensure success.

I think most people understand the limits of government, and particularly this government. There is nothing wrong with individuals taking responsibility, is there?
 
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the gorgon

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chip stated

I hope they are paying attention to what the gringos want, not what they think they want.

truer words have never been spoken. i have heard all kinds of ideas, including amusement parks. yes, for guys who are coming from countries that have state fairs which are 10 times the size of any amusement park you could build in the DR.
 
Robert

Robert

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catcherintherye said:
If things were left simply to SECTUR not much would get done.

At a recent meeting in POP, the minister was quite clear that is the responsibility everyone with an interest in seeing the north coast is successful.

In other words, SECTUR can only do so much. It is up to everyone else to ensure success.

I think most people understand the limits of government, and particularly this government. There is nothing wrong with individuals taking responsibility, is there?
Click to expand...

You can't beat individuals taking responsibility. People power will always be more effective and successful than any other source.

Look at other successful tourism markets, what do many have in common?
A long term plan with common goals that encompass all sectors.

I have seen many branding initiatives, one off plans, come and go in my 12 years of promoting the DR, none have been implemented. This is a very individualistic market, mixed with politics and skewed agendas.
I work in it and also work with SECTUR.

I'll be at World Travel Mart in London next month, let's see how serious SECTUR are in promoting Puerto Plata.
 
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