The National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores) announced the postponing for a date to be announced of its annual hotel and services booking event. The Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange (DATE) is, by far, the most important event of the year for the Dominican tourism industry.
Paola Rainieri, president of Asonahores, said it was a hard but necessary decision. The advances of the Covid-19 virus around the world have disrupted the industry. Rainieri said the postponement is to protect the more than 600 delegates, both Dominican and foreign, that take part in the event. She said the event follows efforts by the government to slow the spread of the virus.
DATE would have been held in Punta Cana. Tour operators from all over the globe, local tour directors, airline representatives, air charter service operators, and the hotel suppliers for the tourist industry in the Dominican Republic are closely monitoring the developments.
The announcement comes concurrently with the government cancelling flights from Europe, a large source of tourism to the country. The DR tourism industry is also immediately affected by the cancellation of flights from Europe to the United States and the generalized canceling of travel plans by millions around the world.
As of 11 March 2020, there were 11 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Dominican Republic, all imported by persons who had traveled from abroad.
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El Dia
Listin Diario
16 March 2020