Dominican Republic expects 12 million tourists in 2024; concerns about growing too fast

[Dolores]

The Ministry of Tourism proudly announced the surpassing of 10 million visitors in 2023. Now, Deputy Minister of Tourism Jacqueline Mora tells Caribbean Journal the expectations are of reaching 12 million in 2024. In the interview, the minister addressed the concern about growing too fast to keep up with demand for trained staff. She was interviewed at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel where the Dominican Republic’s 2024 road trade show was held on 3 April 2024.

Quality hotel accommodations, excellent air connections, diversification of markets, and coordinated private sector and government policy are fueling the boom in tourism in the Dominican Republic.

For the interview, Mora spoke of work on new travel niches and categories, from growing the luxury sector to making a bigger foray into experiences, to highlighting the fast-growing capital, Santo Domingo, as a gastronomic...

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[drstock]

' “We can grow more, but we need to be ready on the infrastructure side and the human resource side,” she said.'

She's right, because the language skills and infrastructure are not good enough for the ever-increasing number of visitors. Here in Cabarete, they have just cleared a big patch of land next to Banco Popular, where I am told they are going to build 200 more apartments. Yet still nothing happening about the shortage of water, unreliable electricity supply and traffic problems that we already have.

 

[NALs]

If most of the tourists continue to be concentrated in Bávaro, I really think the worry about the infrastructure and human resource side is a mute point.

Bávaro certainly needs infrastructural upgrades which I don’t know why the government hasn’t done them yet, put the scant government presence there has been a constant since it began to develop in the 1980’s/1990’s. I think the biggest government infrastructural project there was the Bulevar del Este road. Electricity problems are almost non-existent in Bávaro. The area will need some sort of mass transit solution for the ever growing traffic problem, particularly away from the boulevard. Maybe a combination of a few new OMSA routes and perhaps a monorail system which connects all the major developments areas starting in Puntacana Village and the airport to perhaps Uvero Alto. Right now Uvero Wlto has some development but it’s still quite virgin and Macao has even less while the zoning of that area has been changed to allow highrises. In the near future, those two areas will become quite developed. Macao could use an urban planning at this very mlment, before everything is built. The traffic issue in that area from Uvero Alto down to Bávaro and maybe even Verón and southward is only going to get worse.

In terms of the quality of the human resource, the biggest thing is probably understanding and being able to speak non-Spanish European languages, particularly English. When it comes to English the DR ranks quite well in its dominance compared to much of Latin America. If anything, the heavy Haitian presence in Bávaro might be a greater challenge for tourism given that on average Haitian immigrants are less educated than Dominicans and that translate to a lower quality human resource.

 

[Manuel01]

These are very bad news ! Average Resort is already at 350$-500$ a Night. Soon a long weekend at a good resort will cost us 2k.

 

[Lucifer]

In terms of the quality of the human resource, the biggest thing is probably understanding and being able to speak non-Spanish European languages, particularly English. When it comes to English the DR ranks quite well in its dominance compared to much of Latin America. If anything, the heavy Haitian presence in Bávaro might be a greater challenge for tourism given that on average Haitian immigrants are less educated than Dominicans and that translate to a lower quality human resource.

I think Haitians learn languages quite fast.

All things being equal, Haitians can pick up English language skills at a faster rate than Dominicans, and that would be a plus for the Bávaro-Verón-PC area.

 

[NanSanPedro]

I think Haitians learn languages quite fast.

All things being equal, Haitians can pick up English language skills at a faster rate than Dominicans, and that would be a plus for the Bávaro-Verón-PC area.

I can think of 2 really good examples.

 

[Big]

I think Haitians learn languages quite fast.

All thin gs being equal, Haitians can pick up English language skills at a faster rate than Dominicans, and that would be a plus for the Bávaro-Verón-PC area.

?? Thier half of the island cannot even speak French. They speak gibberish. Who on gowds green earth thinks they can pick up a language quicker than a Dominican.

 

[NanSanPedro]

?? Thier half of the island cannot even speak French. They speak gibberish. Who on gowds green earth thinks they can pick up a language quicker than a Dominican.

Every Haitian I know has learned English when there was a legit reason for him or her to do so. Please get a clue before posting.

 

[NALs]

I think Haitians learn languages quite fast.

All things being equal, Haitians can pick up English language skills at a faster rate than Dominicans, and that would be a plus for the Bávaro-Verón-PC area.

I highly doubt that. It could simply be a belief not backed by anything else.

Not only does a larger percentage of Haiti’s population can’t read and write in its own language (let alone in any other), but one of the more common complaints about Dominicans that are literate is how many are barely functional. It can’t be any better on the other side of the border. In the end, you have a population that has a greater part as illiterate and then another greater part that are barely literate. In Bávaro a high percentage of the Haitians are actual immigrants as oppose to being born and living all their lives in the DR, so whatever is overall represented of Haiti applies to them.

Simply assuming there are 500,000 (a joke, but lets assume this), just 1% equals 5,000 people. A person can literally only know Haitians that are brilliant and all of them don’t amount to even half of that 1%.

 

[Lucifer]

I'm personally familiar with Haitians working at PUJ, who are fluent in several languages, including English, as well as Haitian instructors of English in my hometown of Higüey.

When one considers the speed at which street vendors and construction workers pick up Spanish in the D.R., one can't help but be in awe at their ability to adapt.

 

[Lucifer]

I highly doubt that. It could simply be a belief not backed by anything else.

Not only does a larger percentage of Haiti’s population can’t read and write in its own language (let alone in any other), but one of the more common complaints about Dominicans that are literate is how many are barely functional. It can’t be any better on the other side of the border. In the end, you have a population that has a greater part as illiterate and then another greater part that are barely literate. In Bávaro a high percentage of the Haitians are actual immigrants as oppose to being born and living all their lives in the DR, so whatever is overall represented of Haiti applies to them.

Simply assuming there are 500,000 (a joke, but lets assume this), just 1% equals 5,000 people. A person can literally only know Haitians that are brilliant and all of them don’t amount to even half of that 1%.

Hah!
This is proof-positive that you know VERY little about the Haitian community in the D.R.

I think your knowledge is limited to which country has taller buildings and faster cars, giving credence to the old saying, El melao más dulce es el de casa.

 

[NALs]

Hah!
This is proof-positive that you know VERY little about the Haitian community in the D.R.

I think your knowledge is limited to which country has taller buildings and faster cars, giving credence to the old saying, El melao más dulce es el de casa.

In other words, you have no arguments, so now rely on fallacies.

Why not counter with, I don’t know, a source? Say like this one?

Illiteracy is notably higher among Haitians living in the Dominican Republic than among Haitians living in Haiti. Twenty-three percent of young Haitians in the Dominican Republic are illiterate compared to 6.8%of young Haitians in Haiti (OECD and ILO, 2018).

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374682#:~:text=Illiteracy%20is%20notably%20higher%20among,OECD%20and%20ILO%2C%202018).

There are recent articles about how not knowing Spanish makes things more difficult for Haitians in the DR. It wouldn’t be difficult if for them learning Spanish was easy and straight forward. Yes, this discussion is about learning English, which is a harder language for anyone to learn when their mother tongue is kne of the Romance like Spanish or French (it must be slightly more difficult for Kreyol-speakers given that language is mostly a mix of French, Spanish and a bunch of African languages that are more separated from English that the 2 Romance languages already mentioned.)

In the Dominican Republic, Language Barriers Complicate Life for Haitian Migrants

For the hundreds of thousands of Kreyòl speakers living in the Dominican Republic, the lack of language resources limits access to basic services.

nacla.org

 

[Lucifer]

I think Haitians learn languages quite fast.

All things being equal, Haitians can pick up English language skills at a faster rate than Dominicans, and that would be a plus for the Bávaro-Verón-PC area.

I still maintain that all things being equal, Haitians are more skillful than Dominicans at learning a second or third language... Dominicans whose legislature has mandated 4% of GPD go towards their education; Dominicans who have basked in relative political stability for over half a century, etc...
Yes, Nals, the operative phrase, all things being equal, catapults the poor Haitians to stratospheric levels in comparison to their Dominican brethren.

Methinks if Haitians resembled Swedes in appearance, Dominicans would be singing a different tune.

I'm Dominican, and I stand by this comment.

 

[Big]

Every Haitian I know has learned English when there was a legit reason for him or her to do so. Please get a clue before posting.

totally bogus! The entire country is going down the drain because they do not speak a workable language. Just because you have a Haitian girlfriend makes you not an expert. If they were so motivated to learn Spanish or English, they would be more visible in customer transactions.

 

[JD Jones]

totally bogus! The entire country is going down the drain because they do not speak a workable language. Just because you have a Haitian girlfriend makes you not an expert. If they were so motivated to learn Spanish or English, they would be more visible in customer transactions.

I know one Haitian who speaks 5 languages fluently, or at least he said he does. I have seen him having conversations in 4 languages and holding his own.
He's a Sanky, btw. Very good looking kid.

 

[Big]

I know one Haitian who speaks 5 languages fluently, or at least he said he does. I have seen him having conversations in 4 languages and holding his own.
He's a Sanky, btw. Very good looking kid.

There are quite a few Haitian sankies on the North Coast, for sure. Of course there are some who speak other languages fluently, they of course are the exception.

 

[PCMike]

I am with Haitians literally every day. Where I see the difference is the "desire" to learn the language. Given the potential for growth and advancement in Punta Cana for those who speak a 2nd or 3rd language, most Dominicans think that "hello" and "thank you" make them bilingual. Haitians on the other hand, tend to parrot you and over time develop a better understanding. I will be the first to admit, that my Spanish after all these years remains pathetic, but I do my best to communicate. Most transfer drivers, taxi drivers, hotel employees and retail employees know an embarrassingly low amount of anything but Spanish, and even then it is so full of slang, that Cubans say they have a hard time understanding what is being said.
I should say, that this is my own personal experience based on 20 years of direct daily interaction. Your results may vary.

 

[NanSanPedro]

totally bogus! The entire country is going down the drain because they do not speak a workable language. Just because you have a Haitian girlfriend makes you not an expert. If they were so motivated to learn Spanish or English, they would be more visible in customer transactions.

You can't be this uneducated. They're not visible because they have no work permits.

 

[Big]

You can't be this uneducated. They're not visible because they have no work permits.

I assure you am am an educated man Mr Emoji. They are not visible because they cannot communicate a complete thought in Spanish (the most important language here) English or French.

 

[La Profe_1]

Please stay on topic!

On topic means related to the news article and not replying to adversarial posts.