Santo Domingo is promptly getting its act together. The cards favor the city. Former Mayor of Santo Domingo, David Collado is the new Tourism Minister. The experienced president of the Association of Santo Domingo Hotels, Roberto Henríquez, was recently named deputy minister of Tourism. The new Monumental Cultural Heritage Office, architect Juan Mubarak, is a former advisor to Collado at the city government. Architect Amin Abel, former director of Urban Planning at the city government, is now in charge of the US$90 million second phase plan for the Colonial City.
Monika Infante, who heads VINCI Airports in the Dominican Republic and presides the Santo Domingo Tourism Cluster, seeks to capitalize on the new momentum. announced the signing of a strategic public-private alliance to promote tourism development and restore the competitiveness of tourism in Santo Domingo and the recovery of the city that has been the destination most affected by Covid-19.
Restaurants and bars are a main draw to the city. Curfew at 7pm has been a killer. Recently, as part of the Safe Tourism Recovery Plan, the Abinader Administration announced that restaurant delivery would be allowed until 11pm.
The new alliance calls for a strategic development plan for a unified and participative vision among all stakeholders and tourism associations to relaunch the capital city.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a challenge to the tourism sector never before experienced. That is why we welcome and support the “Responsible Recovery Plan for the Tourism Sector” that President Luis Abinader has just launched together with the Minister of Tourism David Collado and the Tourism Cabinet. It is a robust project that takes into account the real needs of the tourism industry to speed up its recovery. From the Cluster we will continue working together for our sector and our city. This alliance that we signed today with the Association of Hotels brings us closer to this goal,” said Monika Infante Henriquez, president of the Santo Domingo Tourism Cluster.
With the alliance, a common work agenda is established for the Ministry of Tourism and the Santo Domingo Cluster. A permanent public-private work table is established to propose solutions and establish priorities. The focus will continue to be on the collective vision of sustainable tourism development that promotes the heritage, culture and human values, as well as the lodging, shopping and leisure activities of the city.
“We know that people will again come to enjoy all that our city has to offer, but we know that the tourism industry will face a new reality after Covid-19 when all destinations compete for more cautious travelers. That is why it is necessary to innovate and work together to continue to live up to the new expectations that the tourists who visit us will have,” said Roberto Henríquez, president of the Santo Domingo Hotel Association.
There is full support and confidence in the plans announced by the new authorities, with no doubts that the plans and programs for the recovery of tourism will translate into restoring jobs and economic growth.
“We are available to continue working together with the authorities in the international positioning of our city brand, for which we are developing a plan that will allow us to capture the tourism market and attract new investments and businesses,” say Henríquez and Infante.
Until the beginning of the crisis, the city of Santo Domingo had record numbers of new tourists, and was living its best moment with many new city hotels, a renovated historical center (Ciudad Colonial), historical and a gastronomic offer of the highest quality.
Read more in Spanish:
Noticias SIN
See how to get the permit for restaurant delivery until 11pm
26 August 2020