2005 Travel News Archive – Page 19

The DR1 Directory hotel pages section has grown since Fun Tropicale Royale became the first hotel advertiser in March 2004. Since then, 64 more hotels have been listed, and others have pages in preparation. The success of the hotel directory pages has spurred the development of other new categories, such as the successful real estate …

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Microsoft?s chairman Bill Gates and his wife Melinda were in La Romana since Friday vacationing at the home of Venezuelan Gustavo Cisneros. News reports say that the Gates ate at Altos de Chavon?s Sombrero and Giacosa restaurants. President Leonel Fernandez visited with them on Sunday, 13 February.

President Leonel Fernandez visited the northeastern cities of Nagua and Samana last week as part of a nationwide tour to meet with community leaders and the people. In Nagua he committed to the construction of the aqueduct for Rio San Juan, which will also serve the Cabrera and Playa Grande area, a beach and golf …

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The Ministry of Tourism has put on hold all new constructions in the area until the completion of a master plan being drafted by a French architect. The plan will be presented on 17 February in Samana. Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez announced over the weekend that the Dominican government would invest RD$444 million in the …

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Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America turned talented singer/actress, visited the DR on Friday staying at the La Romana Casa de Campo resort. She was accompanied by her four-year old daughter. She came to attend the Dorman-Kipmes wedding, as reported in the Listin Diario. Williams has received two NAACP Image Awards and nine Grammy …

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Every Sunday in February and Sunday 6 and 13 in March there are carnival celebrations in cities nationwide. New and up and coming, the Bonao Carnival is competing with the Carnival of La Vega for the title of the best carnival parades in the country. Check out the Friday, 4 March, 8 pm presentation of …

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Dominican tourism arrivals grew 4.8% during 2004, with 3,450,392 air arrivals (2,872,891 foreign air arrivals) and an average occupancy of 74%. This is despite the closing in fall of several hotels in the Punta Cana eastern area due to damages caused by Hurricane Jeanne in September. At the year?s end, US arrivals had increased 7.6% …

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According to the Caribbean Tourist Organization, tourist arrivals to their 32 member Caribbean destinations reached 21.6 million in 2004, up six percent over 2003. The DR had 3.45 million tourist visitors in 2004, by far the most of any island. This was up from 3.28 million non-resident foreign arrivals in 2003. Cuba followed with 1.9 …

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The World Tourism Organization (WTO) announced that after three years of stagnant growth, international tourism experienced a spectacular rebound in 2004. According to the WTO World Tourism Barometer, presented to the media at a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand, international tourist arrivals reached an all-time record of 760 million – an increase of 10% over …

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Nationals from Taiwan and Popular China are working together to create Chinatown in the Duarte Avenue and Benito Gonzalez Street area of Santo Domingo. The expanded area would include nearby streets the Mexico and Mella avenues and Jacinto de la Concha and Jose Marti that are also already popular for Chinese food and articles. The …

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