The president of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTCC), Julia Simpson visited the Dominican Republic on occasion of the signing of a country agreement with the National Hotel & Tourism Association (Asonahores).
Tourism Minister David Collado received Simpson at the Ministry of Tourism. She was accompanied by the president and executive vice-president of the Dominican Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores), David Llibre and Andrés Marranzini, respectively, and hotel businessmen Simón Suárez and Paola Rainieri, members of the organization.
Collado said he was honored by Simpson’s first visit to the Dominican Republic as chief executive of the international tourism organization, and highlighted the meeting as an exchange of experiences on the development of tourism worldwide.
The Ministry of Tourism press release highlighted that during the visit, Simpson praised the successful management of Minister Collado at the head of Mitur and the public-private alliance carried out by the government, which has given the expected results of recovery, growth and leadership of the country in tourism.
Simpson’s visit with Minister Collado came after Simpson visited to sign an agreement whereby the National Hotel and Tourism Association becomes a member of the WTCC.
David Llibre, president of Asonahores, stressed that the agreement is of great importance to the country. He says it is a step forward to continue developing Dominican tourism industry by incorporating international experiences.
Asonahores is the first association of this category in Latin America and the Caribbean to be a member of WTTC, the organization that represents the global private sector of the tourism industry.
”The fact that an association like Asonahores, a leader in the Dominican Republic, is part of the WTCC, influences the way we are seen as a country and destination,” said Llibre.
Also participating in the meeting with Tourism Minister David Collado was Mitur’s Deputy Technical and Destination Management Ministers, Jacqueline Mora and Patricia Mejía, respectively.
During her visit, Simpson gave an interview to Diario Libre. During the interview she highlighted it was a mistake to handle the Covid-19 pandemic by closing borders and expects the experience to serve for future situations.
She described the Dominican tourism model as ”a very successful model.” She pinpointed the relationship between the government and the private sector. There is a very open dialogue, even very intense, in a good way. When there are challenges or opportunities you can talk about them and this is why we are seeing such positive numbers in this country, because in countries when the government does not respect the private sector, the sector does not grow.
She also mentioned the return of pension funds to invest in the Dominican Republic. She says this is important, because they did not want to invest at all during the pandemic in tourism. “Now what we are seeing globally, but also here, is that the tourism sector is going to grow at more than double the global GDP. The global GDP over the next 10 years is going to be about 2.7% and the global travel and tourism sector will grow 5.8%. In the Dominican Republic it will be very similar, so there will be opportunities for local and foreign investors,” she forecasts.
As part of her experience in the world of tourism, Julia Simpson has been head of corporate affairs for International Airlines Group (IAG) and since 2007 she was the director of Corporate Communications for British Airways, in addition to holding various positions in the British government and public sector.
WTTC is the only global body representing the Travel & Tourism private sector and its numerous industries. The Council’s Members are the Chairmen or Chief Executives of leading global Travel & Tourism companies, from all geographies and industries, including hotels, airlines, airports, tour operators, cruise, car rental, travel agents, rail, as well as the emergent sharing economy, enabling them to speak with one voice to governments and international bodies.
Over 200 companies are now represented on the Council, accounting for two-thirds of a trillion US dollars in turnover, equivalent to 30% of the entire sector.
Read more in Spanish:
WTTC
Ministry of Tourism
Diario Libre
Ministry of Tourism
21 February 2023