Julio Llibre, spokesman for the Coral Hotels chain, complained yesterday that 23% of hotel revenues goes to pay taxes. He spoke at an open debate held yesterday at the Casa de Bastidas sponsored by the Ministry of Culture. He said that to improve the tourism image of the country more investment is needed in the environment, tourism infrastructure and education.
Other participants in the debate on the future of tourism were Ramon Prieto, president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association, Frank Rainieri, president of the Punta Cana Group, and the new Minister of Tourism Rafael Subervi.
Ramon Prieto said that US travel to the DR dropped 22% in September, primarily due to the 11 September attacks. European travel to the DR was down 12%. Other external factors affecting travel to the DR were the weakening of the Euro versus the US dollar and the increase in the cost of jet fuel. Prieto once again called for a moratorium on the construction of new hotel rooms until demand catches up to the present hotel room surplus.
Frank Rainieri urged the country to move faster to take advantage of changing tourism patterns resulting from the 11 September event. He said the nation has a good opportunity to reverse declining travel numbers, but “we have to make a major effort.” He lamented that other competing destinations have already gotten a head start in this direction.
Minister of Tourism Rafael Subervi said changes need to be introduced in the national tourism strategy to transform the country’s image as a low cost destination.
“The policy of low prices has impeded us from gaining an image of quality. We must accept the challenge of transforming this perception to one where we are the best destination,” said Subervi, as reported in Hoy newspaper. (2 November 2001)
