The president of the Asociacion de Empresas Inmobiliarias (AEI), a leading real estate business association, Ilonka Castillo, has said there is currently a foreign investment boom in Dominican tourist areas, as reported in Hoy. She stated that there is an increased amount of construction and sales of real estate in this sector, including villas, apartments, houses and hotel rooms. This is largely due to the growth of the tourism. Companies that invest in tourism are purchasing homes for their executives. Also, the cost of real estate in the US, for example, is very high, leading investors to choose to purchase villas, apartments and homes in the DR. Castillo believes that barriers for the issue of permits to the tourism and real estate markets should be removed. She stated that the Ministry of Tourism has similar requirements for real estate investments and hotels.