2014 Travel News Archive – Page 5

Haiti wants to attract residents in the Dominican Republic to visit their neighboring country. Last week, Tourism Minister Stephanie Balmier Villedrouin inaugurated a Tourism Promotion Office at Plaza Bella Vista Center on Av. Romulo Betancourt 1306 in Santo Domingo. She said that there are 8,500 hotel rooms in Haiti and that around a million tourists …

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Grupo Puntacana’s vice president for institutional relations and projects, Simon Suarez will head the National Hotel & Tourism Association for a second time, replacing outgoing president Luis Emilio Rodriguez. With a lengthy career in the tourism industry, he is a former vice president for development of Coral Hotels and Resort, and president of Union Hotelera …

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Overseas Retirement Letter has released its 2014 Retire Overseas Index where the Dominican Republic’s northeastern Samana peninsula is included in a selection of eight of the cheapest places to retire. The Overseas Retirement Letter estimates a monthly budget of US$1,155 would cut it for a couple living in Samana. The list also includes Nha Trang, …

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Catering to travelers seeking upscale accommodation, weddings, meetings and events in Santo Domingo, the city’s newest hotel JW Marriott is in its inaugural first month. President Danilo Medina and Vice President Margarita Cedeno attended the first tour of the 150-room hotel on 28 August 2014. The hotel occupies the 12th to 20th floors of the …

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Iberia is marketing flights to Santo Domingo for EUR450-EUR493 from several Spanish cities. The airline returns to Las Americas International Airport after discontinuing the flights in April 2013 due to internal problems. Iberia is renewing its flights to Santo Domingo from Madrid on Monday, 1 September and is offering attractive fares to retake its market …

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Most hotels in Punta Cana are new or have been refurbished, and rates are hard to beat in the Caribbean. As a result, occupancy remains high along the eastern beach strip. Ernesto Veloz, president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism Projects for the East forecasts that by the year’s end around three million air …

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The beaches of Uvero and Miches are now easier to reach. The Ministry of Public Works recently opened the northernmost stretch of the highway known as the touristic boulevard that starts at Punta Cana International Airport. The new highway was built by Brazilian company Odebrecht and Dominican company Sinercon and tourists headed to Uvero Alto …

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Coco Bongo, the famous Cancun discotheque, is recruiting staff for its Punta Cana opening. The disco will be located in the Downtown Punta Cana center at the intersection of the Boulevard Turistico with the Avenida Barcelo in Punta Cana (Cruce Coco Loco). Chief promoter Roberto Noble estimates that US$10 million have been invested. Coco Bongo …

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Now in its fifth year, the Estatuas Vivas Festival brings living statues to public spaces in Santo Domingo and Jarabacoa on 29, 30 and 31 August 2014. Fifty artists are taking part this year, competing for prizes ranging from RD$45,000 to RD$20,000. The event is organized by Guillermo Liriano Bass and Claudia Lizardo. The mannequins …

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Cellist Jonah Kim will be the guest soloist at the National Symphony Orchestra’s Wednesday, 27 August 2014 concert. Maestro Jose Antonio Molina will conduct the orchestra. Kim’s recordings and live performances have aired on US national and local radio and TV networks such as NPR and PBS. He also records for many pop musicians and …

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