The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores), Joel Santos, valued the progress of Medical Tourism in the Dominican Republic and globally over traditional tourism.
In a conversation with a local newspaper, Santos said that hotel complexes are and will be more important now because Medical Travel offers tourists the opportunity of therapy as a recovery, combined with leisure or family entertainment.
“Dominican Republic has all the hotel conditions and the setting of the tourism sector to support it (medical tourism). We have the recognition of the tourism industry, and, our hospital facilities and clinics are professionalized daily and prepare more to offer quality-oriented services,” Santos said as he pointed out that these elements contribute to the progress of medical travel in the country.
The tourism expert suggested coordinating efforts among the regions to strengthen this new trend.
In January, the Dominican Health Tourism Association estimated that among 25,000 to 30,000 medical travelers chose the country as a destination.
Ecotourism
For Santos tourists complement recreation and beach trips with natural attributes such as mountains, rivers, and exotic places.
“We have innovative attractions to motivate tourists and awaken the interest of discovering the inside country and its attributes as destinations or circuits, to give added value to tourism experiences,” he added.
At the XXXII Commercial Exhibition held in Punta Cana from September 19-21st, Asonahores and the National Network of Business Support for Environmental Protection (Ecored) signed an interinstitutional collaboration agreement to improve the environmental performance of the tourism sector in order to keep improving sustainable tourism.
The agreement includes the promotion and set of incentives and other voluntary and flexible mechanisms that contribute to sustainable development.
Also, the exchange of information on current issues and lobby for new legislation that aims to protect the environment.
Tourism stats that contribute to the progress of health tourism
At the trade show, Santos published the latest study of the tourism sector bill, which represents:
- Transportation – 19%
- Other services – 19%
- Construction – 12%
- Trade – 10%
- Real State – 8%
- Other manufacturers – 7%
- Beverages and Tobacco – 5%
- Finance – 5% of the financial sector
- Electricity, water, and gas – 4% of electricity
- Livestock – 2%
The report, sponsored by Banco Popular Dominicano and prepared by the independent consultancy ANALYTICA, points out that the impact of tourism on total investment is close to 20% and it is estimated that this sector annually “could be stimulating new investments in other areas of the economy of the order of three billion dollars.”