The Ministry of Tourism is encouraging Dominicans to go out and see their own country. “We dare you to get to know your country,” is the campaign. Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia said that this fall, there is a big push to promote domestic travel to Puerto Plata and the north coast.
Javier says that more Dominicans need to see the country that so many foreign visitors save all year to come and visit. During the launch of the campaign at the Hotel Santo Domingo, Javier spoke of the need to protect the sector to maintain the country’s positioning as tourism leader in the Caribbean. He stressed that tourism is the motor of the local economy. “We don’t have oil, we are not major manufacturers or technology exporters, or a financial center,” he said. “But we are good at tourism,” he stressed. “Tourism is the sector that has been responsible for the macroeconomic stability.” He said there is still a need to communicate the extraordinary importance the tourism industry has for the DR, with an estimated US$4 billion in hard currency in 2009.