Professionals that have given their best for the city of Santo Domingo today are holding key positions in the Ministry of Tourism. This is understandable. The new Tourism Minister David Collado is a former capital city mayor. Several who worked closely with Collado in the city government have joined his team in the Ministry of Tourism. Others have been named to key positions in government where they will be able to continue to collaborate with the city.
Roberto Henríquez is the latest to join the team working under Tourism Minister David Collado. He is assigned to be in charge of the Business and Services Department at the Ministry of Tourism. At the time of his appointment, Henríquez was general manager at the Radisson Santo Domingo Hotel. He is also president of the Santo Domingo Hotels Association (AHSD) for the period 2019-2021.
Others working with Collado are Kai Shoenhals García, as Collado’s right hand, and director of the Tourism Promotion Council (Confotur), the body that approves government incentives for tourism companies. Shoenhals is a former president of the Dominican Association of Exporters. Shoenhals traveled with Collado to meet with top executives at AmResorts, a company that sends around a million US tourists to the DR in 2019.
Collado also announced architect Shaney Peña Gómez is named director of the Planning and Projects Department at the Ministry.
Architect Amin Abel, who served as urban planning director at the City Government of the National District, is the coordinator of the Colonial City Comprehensive Program with the US$90 million InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) loan.
Architect Juan Mubarak, a former advisor on urban planning to David Collado, is named director of Monumental Cultural Heritage by Decree 346-20.
In addition to Santo Domingo, other areas are represented in the recent key government appointments. The National Hotel & Tourism Association (Asonahores) is the main private sector participant in the newly created Tourism Cabinet that is overseeing the recovery of the Dominican tourism industry. The president of Asonahores is Paola Rainieri, of the Grupo Punta Cana.
Joel Santos was named Tourism Advisor to the President. He comes from Coral Hotels and Xeliter, a company with resorts, hotels and rental property in almost all Dominican tourism destinations.
Rafael (Papo) Blanco Canto was named honorary advisor to the Minister of Tourism. Blanco is one of the pioneers of tourism in the Dominican Republic with major investments in Dominicus-Bayahibe area and in Samana.
Economist Jacqueline Mora was named technical deputy minister at the Ministry of Tourism. At the time of her appointment, she was the executive director at Analytica, a leading firm in economic research.