The Dominican Annual Travel Exchange (DATE), a yearly get together of tour operators, hoteliers and suppliers has generated a lot of expectations this year. According to the Diario Libre, the hotel chains are looking to diversify their offerings, especially when the tourist demand is focusing on more contact with the local social and cultural scene. The new strategies are visible at the DATE venues. Hotel chains are turning more and more towards conventions and a greater contact with the cultural richness of the Dominican Republic. Starz Resorts is introducing its concept of ?boutique collection? for a hotel under construction in Playa Dorada, the Victorian House, just ten minutes from the airport. The press note says that the new facility will have 50 rooms designed in different styles of suites, and gourmet restaurants.. The guests will have breakfast included, but will not be tied into an ?all-inclusive? regimentation . According to Ian Schembri-Sant, the president of Starz Resorts, his group is clear on the fact that the hotels ?are a window to the sea but a door to the community.? Schembri-Sant is convinced that the local community is an additional attraction to the tourist offering, and will attract a tourist with greater spending power and interested in things outside of the hotels. The head of the Spanish chain, Occidental Hotels, has similar thoughts. Ventura Serra, the Occidental spokesperson told reporters that Occidental was re-launching Puerto Plata as a diversified tourist destination, something that will attract important segments of the North American tourist market .
The Coral by Hilton chain has just finished the construction of 179 new houses for a group of people that had been living above the rocks at Padre Nuestro in Bayahibe. Hilton also announced the opening later this year of the Hilton Santo Domingo, a 21 floor, 228 room hotel located in the Malecon Center.