Constanza, with its reputation for good hospitality, natural air- conditioning and for being like Switzerland in the Caribbean, has just opened up a visitors’ center and offices of the Constanza Ecotourism Cluster at the new Constanza Airport, located at the entrance of town, on Avenida 14 de Junio. The center will be staffed on weekends and holidays, peak times for travel to the vacation and agriculture destination. The Ecotourism Cluster of Constanza hosted the opening of the new info center, and the launching of a new destination map and website (constanza.com.do) on Saturday, 9 August.
The destination map was funded by the United States Agency for International Development under the Dominican Sustainable Tourism Alliance (DSTA) program and contributions from the Mining Fund (an alliance of mining companies) and advertisers.
At the opening ceremony, the president of the Tourism Cluster, Rafael Collado had special thanks for Andres Vanderhorst of the Dominican Airport Department. Collado also thanked the “moral godfathers” for the effort, Takashi Aoki, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) advisor on sustainable tourism, Jaime Moreno of the National Competitiveness Council and Lisette Gil of the DSTA.
Rafael Collado said that the information center was needed in order to provide materials to the visitor. He said their experience is that an informed visitor will become a repeat visitor.
Also speaking at the event, David Matias of Alto Cerro hotel, said the center will facilitate the distribution of brochures and informational material to visitors, as well as being a site where training and workshops will be held to better prepare the community for visitors, and to promote what the town has to offer.
Duty Greene of USAID highlighted the interest that the US government has had over the past two years in promoting efforts in tourism and agriculture clusters, as well as DR-CAFTA, sustainable tourism, environment, education, health, justice and anti-corruption programs through donations. He called for attention to water, that he describes as soon to become the biggest issue for maintaining sustainable economic development, and the role sustainable tourism mountain communities may play in protecting water sources.
The area’s attractions include the highest waterfall in the Caribbean, Salto de Aguas Blancas, the Ebano Verde Scientific Reserve, mountain trails and memorable mountain cooking. The Ministry of Tourism recently built a panoramic viewing platform at the Aguas Blancas waterfall.