Jakaira Cid, Executive Director of the Tourism Cluster in Puerto Plata

Within the framework of DATE 2015, Caribbean News Digital held and exclusive interview with Jakaira Cid, Executive Director of the Tourism Cluster in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. This is what she had to say.

When did you take office as the Executive Director of the Cluster?

I took over in 2009. At the very beginning I didn’t know much about the travel industry because I had been working in the financial area, and I joined the project to create a Tourism Cluster in Puerto Plata, which is an agglutinating institution, ONG, that gathers all public and private entities related to the tourism development of the destination. The project aimed at the development of a sustainable tourism with different levels of competitiveness in order to reposition a destination. That’s when I totally got into this tourism matter.

Puerto Plata has undergone different modifications and improvements over the past ten years. What’s its present condition, in terms of tourism?

We’re currently going through a repositioning stage, putting an improved product on the map. The destination is making arrangements to attract new markets and regain the traditional ones. We’ve worked hard on such aspects as promotion and renovation, with the support provided by the Ministry of Tourism, which over the past three years has carried out an overall renovation of the city, in the historic core and the city as such. This year round, Puerto Plata is going to host the inauguration of the brand-new Amber Cove cruise terminal, thus opening new opportunities not only for the North Coast, but for the entire region, so all elements must be optimized in order to help the destination recover and occupy the preferential position it did years ago.

How many rooms do you have in Puerto Plata?

There are over 7,000 All Inclusive rooms. We also have second-residence rooms, as the real estate line features great development in Puerto Plata.

As for the international hotel groups, which of them are established in Puerto Plata?

Iberostar, Be Live, Barceló, Riu, Gansevoort, Blue Bay.

What’s your forecast in terms of the number of hotel rooms?

We’re working as a Cluster with an investment forum, in an effort to have international hotel groups adapted to Puerto Plata and begin the construction of rooms.

How much money has been invested to remodel Puerto Plata over the past years?

As a cluster we don’t work with investment matters. The Ministry of Tourism and Public Works are directly in charge of those issues. The Ministry of Tourism is renovating the Historic Core and building an amphitheater for events, and Public Works is improving the access ways from Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata.

How can people go from Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata?

They can do it whether by bus or travel agencies offering shuttles.

How long does the trip take? How many kilometers?

There are nearly 205 kilometers, and it takes three hours and half.

Where is Puerto Plata located?

It’s nestled in the northern region of the Dominican Republic.

Which of the Dominican Republic’s famous tourism destinations can be found near Puerto Plata?

Las Terrenas, a town on the northeastern coast of the island, Samana province; Montecristi, in the northeastern region of the country, and Jarabacoa, perched on the mountains of the Central Hills, the cradle of eco –tourism in the Dominican Republic.

Do you have any hospital?

Yes, we do have hospitals and private clinics.