2009 Travel News Archive – Page 19

The National Hotel & Restaurant Association has announced that the country’s leading travel booking event, the Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange (DATE 2009) will take place on 20-21 April in the Punta Cana area. The main conference venue will be the Barcelo Bavaro Convention Center, but activities will also be held at the Iberostar Grand Hotel …

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The Ministry of Tourism reported that last year occupation averaged 70.6%, compared to 72.20% in 2007. Highest occupancy rates were in Punta Cana-Bavaro with 77.7%. According to a recent report issued by the DR Ministry of Tourism, arrivals increased slightly in 2008 with over 3.4 million guests choosing the DR as their vacation destination. This …

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The international hospitality investment community will be meeting at the 2009 Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC) to weigh in on what is – and what will be – happening in the region’s industry. Participants at the 13th annual CHTIC, to be held from 14-16 April at the Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda, will listen …

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Portillo Airport (EPS) in the Samana peninsula has a new control tower. The airport receives around 40,000 travelers a year, most on domestic flights from Santo Domingo and Punta Cana airports. For the inauguration of the new control tower, a 10-plane fly-in by the Club Caribbean Flying Adventure of Puerto Rico arrived. The terminal offers …

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The Dominican Republic will open the World Baseball Classic against The Netherlands in Group D at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic this coming Saturday, 7 March at 11am. The Panama vs. Puerto Rico game follows. Six games will be played by the Pool D teams in …

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Luis Molina, director of the Port of Sans Souci, has told the press the port expects to receive around 70 cruise ships this year, which is 34 more than last year. Over 100,000 tourists are expected this year, and this is set to increase to 125,000 in 2010. Molina says that 70% of the tourists …

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This week Puerto Plata gets its own mega store, La Sirena and its in-house supermarket Supermercado Pola, which are opening on Wednesday, 4 March on the city’s Malecon seafront avenue. La Sirena is like a Dominican Walmart. Owners Grupo Ramos say they have invested RD$300 million in the new store.

Xavier Tudela, president of the International Bureau of Cultural Capitals, is optimistic that this March Santo Domingo will be declared American Capital of Culture 2010. The Ministry of Culture officially submitted the city’s application last week, after months of preparation by the Center of European Studies of the PUCMM that had the initiative and has …

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Haydee Kuret de Rainieri, president of the National Association of Hotels & Restaurants (Asonahores), urged the Caribbean to come together as one destination, when speaking during the tourism panel at the Casa de Campo Feria de Andalucia Business Forum. Asking the question, “Why don’t we grow,” she pointed to the fact that the Caribbean only …

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Some of the most famous Spanish chefs will be in the DR from 5-7 March for the celebration of the Club Gastronomico Espanol Millesime gastronomic event at Cap Cana on the East Coast. Millesime is a gastronomic club that organizes high level gastronomy events around the world. Coming for Cap Cana Millesime are chefs Ferran …

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