Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week, Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia stated that he did not believe that the present financial crisis would halt tourism investments in the DR. He expected that a large percentage of the US$16 billion in new investment projects the Ministry has approved would materialize.
On the contrary, he said that the DR had benefited from the crisis. “If there had not been a crisis then the price of a barrel of oil would have escalated to US$300-350, and then countries like the DR would have collapsed,” he told the audience of businesspeople. He forecast that petroleum would cost US$85-90 a barrel by the end of the year.
“Tourism in the DR is not in crisis”, he said. He pointed out that there have been no banking collapses in the DR as a result of the crisis. “Many say that among other things it is due to the mega-regulation that was put into place at a time others were deregulating,” he said.
Javier Garcia believes that the tourism industry is the most resistant of all industries, maintaining a track record of growth since its launch in 1950.
He feels there is enough tourism to go around, and there is no need to compete with other Caribbean countries.
He announced that the Ministry is reaching non-traditional agreements with leading tour operators based instead on yield for the 2009-2010 season.
He added that the DR’s tourist offices abroad are diversifying with the aim of promoting investments as well as travel.
“It is not difficult to sell the DR. All we have to make sure is that the investor visits,” he said.
During his presentation, he announced the start of flights of Air Dominicana, a joint venture between the Dominican government and Air Europa of Spain.
Furthermore, he stressed that the country would be heavily promoting its golf projects, reaching out to the estimated 29 million golfers in the US, and 6 million Canadian golfers.
At the same time, he said his ministry would be implementing a campaign to encourage Dominicans to get to know their own country and reiterated the importance of joint government and private sector initiatives.