Tourism Minister David Collado announced that a resort in Bayahibe Beach will host the Caribbean Hotel Investment and Operations Summit (CHICOS) in November 2022. The event is organized by HVS, the National Hotel & Tourism Association (Asonahores) and Pro Dominicana, the government export and investment entity and Playa Hotels & Resorts. The investment promotion event is in its 11th year.
The announcement was made at a ceremony headed by Minister Collado and attended by the president and director of the event’s organizing firm (HVS), Parris Jordan and Nicole Roantree. Collado stressed the importance of tourism investment in the Dominican Republic.
The CHICOS Summit, to be held 9-11 November 2022 at the newly renovated Hilton La Romana All-Inclusive Resort at Bayahibe Beach, will gather government participants, investors, operators, suppliers and other members of the tourism value chain for panels, business and investment rounds, networking and other activities to support the growth of the tourism sector.
Among the participants are the world’s largest hotel chains, along with investment funds and other agents of the international tourism sector.
HVS had made the announcement in April explaining:
“The Dominican Republic as a destination continues to generate tremendous interest and has been the leading destination for new development projects in the Caribbean for a number of years,” Parris Jordan said at the time. “We are excited to bring CHICOS back to the Dominican Republic to showcase the island’s continued growth, including through the last few difficult years,” he said in making the announcement.
The Ministry of Tourism says that the United Nations Conference on on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recognized in its World Investment Report 2022, published on June 9, 2022, that the Dominican Republic was the leading country in the recovery of foreign capital. Minister Collado highlights that the total recovery of tourism and the income generated by the sector in these two years have been fundamental to maintaining macroeconomic stability.
Dominican Republic was the leading country in the recovery of foreign investment in the Caribbean during 2021.
Over the past 10 years the tourism has increased its share from 5-10% in foreign direct investment, with flows of almost US$200 million of investment per year, to a share of more than 30%, with investment flows of almost US$1 billion per year, according to statistics from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.
“These figures reflect the consolidation of the sector as a strategic pillar for macroeconomic stability and economic growth,” said Minister Collado.
The official highlighted the importance of the CHICOS summit at a time when the recovery of Dominican tourism is expected to reach record figures by the end of the year.
Collado says that if the present pace of arrivals continues by the end of the year, the DR will surpass 7.3 million tourist arrivals. Collado says the Dominican Republic is living its best times for investment in the tourism sector.
9 August 2022