The Ministry of Tourism has announced an advertising campaign in the US exclusively focusing on Puerto Plata. Ramon Alfredo Bordas says a committee will relaunch the destination that has been affected by a shortage of services and infrastructure at a time when German travel to the Caribbean and Latin America is down. Sosua is the big loser because of the many small independently owned hotels in the area, many dating back to the start of tourism in the DR. The entry of larger all-inclusives forced many of the small hotels out of business as they grabbed the travelers by offering more many times the same prices as the smaller hotels. Small hotels were also hard hit by mergers in the European travel industry that resulted in the elimination of low cost charters which the hotels depended on for most of their guests. El Siglo published yesterday that another 29 hotels with 2,356 rooms in the area could close, as they have occupancies under 20%. Earlier this year 1,496 rooms closed in 26 properties. Iris Perez, president of the Sosua and Cabarete Hotel Association, urges governmental attention to infrastructure problems in the area. She says they have neglected to resolve the water treatment situation, improve five kilometers of the Sosua River, relocate the inhabitants of El Tablon and La Jedra, improve paving and lighting along the Puerto Plata-Sosua-Cabarete highway as well as the improvement of Sosua Beach, which has been overtaken by vendors. Interested parties within the city hall have delayed the implementation of a World Bank loan for water and sewage infrastructure, and now the Minister of Tourism says the government wants to secure a major loan for infrastructure in all tourism destinations, not just Puerto Plata. (7 June 2001)
