During this month’s Fitur Travel Trade Show in Madrid, Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia Fernandez announced that it had agreed with Messe of Berlin to update a 2008 study. Garcia Fernandez said that they reached an agreement with Messe general manager David Ruetz that the update would be ready within six months. Messe of Berlin will be studying possible locations for the convention center in addition to its recommendations following the 2008 research. In 2008 the Dominican government contracted the first study, which cost EUR119,000, to determine the best site for the convention center, its capacity, the type of businesses that should be included in the final design, and other aspects.
The initiative will involve government and private sector operators. “This is a project that has the full support of the government,” said Garcia in Madrid.
He said the center is seen as a key element in the sustained growth of the sector. The DR received 4.6 million tourists last year who are said to have contributed US$5.08 billion to the economy.
Garcia said that there have been discussions about providing the city with a convention center for several years. He said that the recent improvements to the Colonial City and the new highways that make Santo Domingo more accessible to the millions of tourists visiting the East coast beach destinations mean this is even more important now.
David Ruetz says the convention center will create jobs and increase revenue for the country.
Messe Berlin operates Europe’s largest congress center, the ICC Berlin.
At the Dominican Annual Travel Exchange (DATE) in 2013, Deputy Minister Radhames Martinez said that the government would build the center, but the private sector would be the operator. The plan is for the center to be completed before the end of the Medina administration in August 2016. Sans Souci Group has also proposed the construction of a convention center in eastern Santo Domingo.