Q & A with Luis SimoDeputy Minister of International Affairs of the Dominican Republic´s Tourism Department

by Jose Carlos de Santiago

The Dominican Republic´s travel industry chalked up good results in 2005 with as many as 3.8 million visitors and an 8 percent overall growth compared to the year before.

However, execs and officials in the industry hope there´s a whole lot more ahead in coming years as they try to turn their country into what they call “the most distinctive and luring travel destination in the Caribbean.” This is what Luis Simo had to say in this exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital.

Q.- After a year and a half in office, what´s the current situation for the Dominican Republic in terms of the new tourist projects now underway?

A.- Well, I can say the results of the tourist activity in the Dominican Republic bear out that the actions we´d planned were right on track. A preliminary result of 2005 shows the Dominican Republic´s travel industry grew 8 percent with nearly 3.8 million sunbathers. That result says we´ll be definitely meeting the goal of peaking 4.5 million visitors by the year 2008 on the one hand, and the existence of 75,000 hotel rooms on the other hand. Those outcomes will surely strengthen the country´s position as the top travel destination of the insular Caribbean.

Q.- How many cruise passengers are you getting right now?

A.- As far as cruises are concerned, we´re well above the 400,000-passenger mark. One element we need to highlight is the number of partnerships the private sector is making to streamline the island nation´s port infrastructure. In the particular case of Casa de Campo, there´s been an intense investment effort going on over the past two years to revamp the seaport at La Romana.

At the same time, the seaport of the colonial city is expected to undergo an all-out $400 million overhaul for the building of a brand-new cruise terminal large enough to accommodate up to eight vessels all at once. We should also mention other projects in terms of real estate, hotels, shopping malls and a convention center.

Q.- How much progress has the country made in terms of human resource training?

A.- We´ve signed a cooperation agreement with Spain whereby a Spanish group will take over management of a hotel and its infrastructure for the training project. Also with Spanish cooperation we´re planning to ink other professional training programs in some of the country´s emerging travel destinations, like Barahona and Pedernales.

Q.- What do you think of the ongoing changes within the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Caribbean Hotel Association? What do you make of Vincent Vanderpool´s new working strategies?

A.- We´ve noticed increasing dynamism within this organization (CTO). We´ve also watched this organization come together after a poor leadership in the past. Now the CTO is taking hefty steps in terms of technical cooperation with countries in the region. Fortunately, the brunt of this cooperation has a lot to do with the member states´ own strategic policies and their own visions of what sustainable tourism is actually all about.

Quite recently we held a meeting in Punta Cana attended by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez and CTO´s secretary-general Vincent Vanderpool. This meeting allowed authorities to come up with major conclusions about the future tourism policy for the Dominican Republic and the need for long-term planning and policing.

As we speak, the Dominican Republic is laying out its future strategy as far as tourist policy is concerned, and in that sense we´re fully counting on the CTO´s help and cooperation.

During a meeting held last year on the Virgin Islands, we handed Mr. Vanderpool a copy of our working plan with the CTO for the ongoing year. This cooperation program also includes technical advisory in terms of promotion, the use of information technology in the travel industry, and other aspects. I´m convinced the CTO will play a major role in the definition of sustainable tourism policies at a number of levels.

Q.- The expression “Only One Caribbean,” do you believe there´ll someday be only one Caribbean?

A.- Well, the expression “Only One Caribbean” basically means the creation of a totally representative trademark, aimed at building awareness among our potential customers that the Caribbean is only one region with a social and cultural diversity of its own. That´s part of what our visitors come looking for.

Q.- Is there anything else you´d like to add?

A.- I´d like to day that the Dominican Republic´s travel industry is at its best right now. We´re putting our smart money on the diversification of our tourist product, especially the deluxe segment. Also this year we´ll start prying into the untapped tourism potential of Cap Cana. New marinas are being built, there are new projects underway to branch out the many travel-oriented offers inside the Dominican Republic. Both the Dominican government and the private sector are joining hands to pour as many as $100 million into the development of the local hospitality industry, especially in terms of infrastructure. That requires the building of new plants for the treatment of cesspool water, roads, aqueducts and other works. All this will be done with the idea and the goal of making the Dominican Republic the Caribbean´s most peculiar and attractive travel destination.