Tourism consultant Victor Pizarro is recommending that the city of Santo Domingo should focus on domestic tourism, tourists who will already be visiting and expatriate Dominicans as part of its efforts to increase the number of people visiting to the capital on the occasion of the celebration of the American Capital of Culture in 2010.
Pizarro, who is country manager for Bluefreeway and is consulting for the Santo Domingo Tourism Cluster, says that those groups can generate 65% of the numbers for an increase in visitor numbers in that important year. “We need to prepare the event for the people who are here,” said Pizarro.
The 2010 initiative could serve as a dress rehearsal for the permanent launch of the city as a cultural destination. Pizarro says that today, while the city has the elements for making it a major international cultural destination, there is still a long way to go to achieve this positioning in the minds of travelers.
Pizarro emphasized that it is the only historical city where you can walk for two minutes and come across a museum. “Square meter by square meter, Santo Domingo has the largest number of museums in the region,” he said. He compared the DR to two other destinations that are favorably positioned as cultural centers – Cartagena, Colombia and Port of Spain, Trinidad. But he added that they contrary to Santo Domingo, these two cities have been effective in making the most of their assets.
During a presentation last week at the PUCMM University, Pizarro encouraged the city to come up with a Marketing Plan to connect the offer with the demand and to ensure that the city achieves its goal of promoting its cultural assets.
Pizarro feels that the time is ripe to reach out to tour operators and hotel chains operating in the DR to make sure that special excursions to Santo Domingo are included in the packages for 2010.
For a copy of the presentation, write to vpizarro@certifica.com