Travel – Page 607

Barahona’s first charter aircraft carrying tourists for the area’s hotels is expected to arrive on 31 July. The Transmeridian Airline jet, with passengers flying from New York to Barahona, has a capacity for 174 passengers, and will land every Wednesday at the brand new María Montez International Airport. The government invested RD$700 million in the …

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José Manuel Amat, a pioneer and a firm believer in, and promoter of, the tourism potential of the Dominican Republic, died last week of cancer in Madrid, much before his time. Mr. Amat was the man behind the building up of the Occidental Hotels chain in the country. A man of vision, since the time …

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In the opinion of the new director of the Civil Aviation Board, Vitelio Mejía Ortíz, the country should not sacrifice aviation safety to benefit tourism with a policy of “open skies”. He said that the government’s objective is to expedite the approval of permits to the largest number of regular airlines, and that with the …

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Last week, Cardinal Nicolás López Rodríguez blessed the new Capilla Santa María de la Rábida at the Columbus Lighthouse. A weekly Mass will be celebrated at 5 pm on Sundays. At the opening of the new chapel, Cardinal López spoke about the purpose of the Columbus Lighthouse, saying that it is the tomb of Christopher …

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The Association of Hotels of Santo Domingo held a course for its members on handling natural disasters. It concentrated on what action the city’s hotels should take in the time of a hurricane. Cristine Herridge de Guerrero, who coordinates the Dominican Committee for Mitigating Disasters, stressed the efforts being taken to create a nucleus of …

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The Dominican authorities are coordinating events leading to the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the city of Santo Domingo. Historians have agreed that the municipality was officially founded on 5 August 1498, while the first houses were erected beforehand in 1496. The program of activities will be held from 1 to 10 August. Participating …

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Under decree 233-96 President Joaquín Balaguer has ordered the creation of new ecological protected areas, taking into consideration recommendations from the Union Mundial para la Naturaleza (UICN). Several of the areas are in tourist zones and will now be off-limits to for construction of hotels and vacation housing in order to preserve their natural beauty …

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Last week, the Dominican Chamber of Tourism called attention to the new taxes being unilaterally applied by the Ministry of Tourism to finance its activities. The Ministry has been severely under-funded because of the government remitting its allotted budget, and has thus found itself hard pressed to carry out its activities in even a minimal …

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On 4 July, the Dirección de Aeronaútica Civil, the local civil aviation board, authorized 18 airlines from Germany, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, to make charter or scheduled flights to Punta Cana, Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo. The charter authorizations will principally increase traffic from Spain, Germany, Italy, Britain, Belgium, Austria, and Argentina. …

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The Caribbean Tourism Organization in its report on the current economic outlook for the United States says that the GDP is expected to taper off to a slower growth rate of around 2.2% in the second half of 1996. This quarter is expected to finish at over a 3% increase in real GDP. Some warning …

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