President Luis Abinader was in Punta Cana for the opening of the Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange (DATE) on 11 May 2022. The business to business gathering is held after a two year interruption for Covid-19. In its 22nd edition, DATE’s success was evident in its record-breaking numbers: 30% higher attendance, with 6,000+ business meetings scheduled, and 700 delegates.
Tourism Minister Collado proudly told the attending the event is being held at a time when the statistics for April 2022 had set a new record monthly arrivals record of 726,000 non-resident arrivals. Collado said the records are likely to continue into May. Collado credited the success to public-private sector working together. He spoke of the recovery of both air and maritime travel.
During the event, Collado announced the signing of several agreements with tour operators and airlines from Canada. President Abinader also took advantage of being in Punta Cana to participate in the ground-breaking for the 700-room Secrets Tides Punta Cana, a 700-room resort part of the AMR Resorts.
Minister Collado signed new agreements for promotional campaigns to ensure the arrival of tourists from Canada during the summer and in December 2022. Renee Boisvert, vice-president of product of AirTransat; Dina Bertolo, vice president product development at Air Canada Vacations and Eric Rodríguez executive vice president of Sunwing signed the cooperation agreements. The goal is to promote new air routes to increase capacity from Canadian gateways.
During DATE, Expedia Group recognized the Dominican Republic as the “Best Marketing Campaign in Latin America.”
The 22nd edition of DATE that is organized by the Association of Hotels & Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores) took place from 11 to 13 May 2022 at the Barceló Bávaro Convention Center, Punta Cana.
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Ministry of Tourism
Travel Week
17 May 2022