Don Angel Miolan, who was the first director of tourism in the DR in 1967, at a time when the 20-room Hotel Hamaca was THE main hotel, died last week in Santo Domingo. He was 97 years old. “There have been many visionaries, but what made Angel Miolan stand apart was that he became a preacher for the tourism industry,” commented Jaime Moreno of the National Competitiveness Council. “He would go everywhere expounding on the benefits of tourism, like an evangelist with bible in hand.”
When tourism to the DR was practically non-existent, Miolan was appointed by then President Joaquin Balaguer to be director of tourism. Miolan played a key role in the founding of the Festival de Merengue on the Malecon in Santo Domingo.
On the occasion of his funeral, Listin Diario newspaper recalls that in his first year on the job, Angel Miolan was instrumental in trebling the number of visitors, to 45,400.
Nevertheless, those also were the years when the question: “Where are the tourists?” was continuously answered by the skeptical: “In Miolan’s head.”
But Miolan was proved right, as evidenced by the 4.5 million tourists who now visit 40 years later.
One of the founders of the PRD political party, Miolan went on to work as a conciliator in tourism as well as in politics. He is also recognized for organizing several national tourism conventions to bring stakeholders in the sector together for talks.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was responsible for developing President Joaquin Balaguer’s awareness that the country had a great future in tourism. As a result, into the 1970s, Balaguer pushed several bills through Congress that set the base for the launch of the Dominican Republic as a leading Caribbean tourism destination.
Miolan is also recognized as being an exception among most leading Dominican politicians today. He remained loyal to the PRD until his dying day, and is recognized for his consensus-building skills. Money did not seem to be his main concern; his wealth was in his social capital. His funeral was paid for by his offspring, outstanding professionals in their own right, as the man who had lived with the country’s development as his priority did not accumulate material wealth. He lived his life as testament to the notion that one can engage in politics for the common good and not for individual profit.
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