Businessman Frank Rainieri, president of Grupo Punta Cana, asked the Ministry of Tourism to revise its proposal to impose a tax of US$5 on airfares of tickets purchased abroad as of August. Rainieri believes that the measure should be one of consensus. He said that between 2003 and 2004 Punta Cana airport alone generated more than U$110 million for the state, which has not yet invested a cent in the Punta Cana area. He wondered how the state is going to develop another tourism area if it does not back the existing ones, as reported in the Listin Diario. Ministry of Tourism has given priority to the promotion of the opening of a new tourism destination in the southwest.
“That is why I say that we have to think this over, that it cannot be an impulsive or unilateral decision, it has to be a measure of consensus. He said that President Leonel Fernandez has been characterized as a man of consensus. Rainieri was interviewed at the close of the American Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday.
He said that it was now time to evaluate the country’s performance, and stated that competition has grown faster in the cases of Cancun, Cuba and Jamaica that show better growth than the DR. He added that the country should look within and study the reasons for this situation. “We are calling on the Ministry of Tourism to engage in a dialogue on the US$5 measure and we believe it is time to sit down with legislators and discuss fiscal reform.”