What’s the government waiting for? The Medina administration has published 1 July as the restart date for hotel and airport operations. Yet, the government has yet to issue the official clearance for airports and airlines to resume commercial operations. In a conversation with tourism industry writers in the Dominican Republic, Frank Rainieri, president of Puntacana Group, urged the government to act now.
Rainieri is optimistic the DR will soon recover. But he says lots will depend on the proactiveness the country shows, “starting by the government”. “We need to define if we are going to open or not. We can’t be left in limbo. If we are going to open, there are the protocols that need to be harmonized.” Rainieri says protocols need to be honed. “The protocols in effect for Heathrow can’t be the same that work in the Dominican Republic,” he said. “We need time to be able to tell everyone ‘This is what we are going to do.’ Then we can talk about reservations,” he said.
“If we are the last to get on the train, it is possible the train will leave without us,” he said, speaking figuratively about the road back to recovery. He stressed: “Our competition has set dates to open with very clear protocols. The industry has been closed during these months, yet the same chains that run hotels in the Dominican Republic do so in Cancún, Jamaica and other countries. All their efforts are going to be directed at the countries that open first,” he said. “We all are aware that opening does not mean returning to what was normal in March,” he emphasized.
“It will take time because there are many people that are scared and do not want to travel. There is an economic situation, our main source of tourists is the USA where 40 million have lost their jobs. This is going to be gradual,” he warned.
He said the government economic recovery plan lists 1 July as the reopening for hotels. But a formal notice has not yet been received. “We need time to prepare for opening,” said Rainieri. He said “45 days or a minimum 30 days are needed to coordinate the opening with tour operators, travel agents, airlines, to set prices and rates, the promotions, let these people know and give time for them to book the tourists,” he said.
Rainieri is concerned there has not yet been an official announcement authorizing flights. Only a notice that airports are closed until 1 July 2020.
Rainieri says he doesn’t have a crystal ball, but given his experience in the industry, he expects the recovery to be gradual and normalcy will return in 2021. “It will take six months for the industry to recover,” he said. “But we have to start.” Rainieri recalled how the country’s tourism industry rebounded after the drop in bookings due to the Gulf War in 1990, Hurricane Georges in 1998, the 9/11 terrorist acts.
Rainieri spoke of the impact the tourism industry has on the general economic activity in the country. “The longer we take, it will be worse for the industry and the country,” he said.
It’s just about living with Covid-19. Local health data shows the virus has primarily affected urban areas in the Dominican Republic. He is optimistic. We says the tourism industry is well versed in implementing international protocols – naming the food handling protocols and the airport screening protocols that are now second nature in hotels and airports.
Here we have a big advantage, he said. He explained that resort accommodations are sprawled across large areas in Punta Cana. He said most hotels do not use elevators. Low density is the norm, with enormous green areas. “These are factors that work naturally to keep physical distance,” he said. “We can operate restaurants at half of capacity and set the tables outdoors,” he said. The design of resorts works well with the new protocols.
“If we do not start on 1 July, the industry will not open until December,” he stressed. “Because no one is going to open on 15 August in the middle of the hurricane season to have only 5% occupancy,” he explained. Bottom line, he said that if hotels can’t open in July, the management will prefer to make severance payments and rehire staff in six months.
3 June 2020