The Ministry of Tourism proudly announced the surpassing of 10 million visitors in 2023. Now, Deputy Minister of Tourism Jacqueline Mora tells Caribbean Journal the expectations are of reaching 12 million in 2024. In the interview, the minister addressed the concern about growing too fast to keep up with demand for trained staff. She was interviewed at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel where the Dominican Republic’s 2024 road trade show was held on 3 April 2024.
Quality hotel accommodations, excellent air connections, diversification of markets, and coordinated private sector and government policy are fueling the boom in tourism in the Dominican Republic.
For the interview, Mora spoke of work on new travel niches and categories, from growing the luxury sector to making a bigger foray into experiences, to highlighting the fast-growing capital, Santo Domingo, as a gastronomic destination. She said the country will continue to boost golf tourism and watersports, weddings, meetings and conventions.
“We are creating the brands of the different destination, but together being the Dominican Republic destination,” she told Caribbean Journal.
She explained the efforts are all part of the Dominican Republic’s tourism strategy, one Mora said would need to balance the need for growth with developing the human resources to sustain it. “This year we’re expecting around 12,000,” she said, projecting growth at around 12 to 13% — and an ambition to grow between 8 and 13% annually over the next decade.
“We can grow more, but we need to be ready on the infrastructure side and the human resource side,” she said.
Read more:
Caribbean Journal
9 April 2024