The Minister of Tourism, Frank Jorge Elías, said that he plans to begin a campaign within the next 45 days with its principal objective being to attract U.S. tourists. He said that traffic from the United States has declined, but it is principally due to the lack of promotion in that market. He said the U.S. public is heavily influenced by the millions spent in advertising by other countries, which makes the Dominican effort more difficult, especially given the high cost of advertising in the U.S. news media.
Mr Jorge Elías does, however, expect an increase in the number of U.S. visitors as a consequence of the new TWA flight to Santo Domingo. He was instrumental in attracting TWA to the Dominican Republic. The D.R. is a popular holiday island for European tourists, but tour operators carry the bulk of the promotional efforts, complemented by trade shows. From the U.S., the country is principally served by the scheduled airline services, with American Airlines, Continental, APA and now TWA bringing in most of the tourists from North America.