Santos bets on the stock market for tourism development
The stock market is a strategic ally for the growth and development of the Dominican Republic’s tourism sector, and within, the diversification of the offer by incorporating promising niches like medical travel.
According to Joel Santos, president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores), given the growth and diversification showed in recent years, the tourism sector requires a greater demand of medium and long-term resources, and it is time to incorporate funds from the stock market in this scheme.
Santos, who spoke at the 2nd Asonahores Tourist Investment Forum held on November 27th in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, highlighted the opportunity represented by the stock market for the development of the tourism sector, the importance of the portfolio diversification, and in that sense health tourism, also known as medical travel, as a promising niche for this purpose.
Moreover, the tourism expert said that adding new investments requires:
- The channeling of resources to the industry
- New road infrastructures
- Training of human resources
- Territorial ordering
- Tax and incentive policy
- Environmental actions
- Promotion of different destinations
- Public security
- Legal security
- Energy policy
- Cross-sectoral linkage,
Globally, medical travel market was worth USD 19.7 billion in 2016 and is estimated to scale at a CAGR of 18.8% and reach USD 46.6 billion by 2021, according to an Obis Research report titled “Global Medical Tourism Market by Treatment Type and by Region-Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2017-2021)”.
Santos has been a strong advocate of incorporating new niches into the Dominican tourism strategy.
Last September, he led the “Importance of Health and Wellness Tourism in the Hospitality Industry” panel at the 4th International Health and Wellness Tourism Congress in Santo Domingo.
At the biggest medical travel event of the Caribbean, sponsored by the Dominican Health Tourism Association, Santos called the hospitality leaders to continue to support the efforts in establishing a reputable, high-quality, and cost-effective medical travel industry.
At the Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange held in April 2017, Joel Santos spoke highly about the improvements made in this sector.
“We are moving forward in health tourism and already have high-qualified medical services and hotel rooms equipped to accommodate patients,” stated the president of Asonahores at the event hosted by the entity.
What is the Asonahores Tourism Investment Forum
The 2nd Asonahores Tourist Investment Forum is a business platform that presents the vision of the public and private sectors for the development of the tourism industry as an investment destination.
At the second edition of the forum named as the “Development of Tourism through the Stock Market, Asonahores aimed to create a value proposition that allows a healthy exchange and presentation of industry issues, promoting a dialogue on perspectives and local investment in this sector using the tools offered by the stock market.
The meeting held two panels: The Stock Market as an Instrument for the Growth of Dominican Tourism, composed of the Pension Fund Administrators, AFP; the Investment Fund Administrators, AFI; the Stock Exchange and Stock Market Positions of the Dominican Republic.
In the second panel, “Success Story Presentation: Project Financing Club Med Miches 5 Trident Resort”, gave a tangible example of how AFP funds can be used in a tourism project.
There was also a conference given by Gloria Guevara Manzo, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council -WTTC- and former Minister of Tourism of Mexico.
Businessmen, government authorities, and professionals linked to the tourism, financial and stock market sector attended the tourism event backed up by Alpha Inversiones, Banco Popular Dominicano, Banreservas, BlueMall, Excel Stock Exchange, CODELPA, Puntacana Group, Humano, Therrestra and United Capital Stock Exchange.
Sheyly Viuque, Marketing Director of Asonahores; Simon Suárez, vice-president of institutional relations and projects at Grupo Punta Cana; Gloria Guevara, president, and CEO of WTTC, Joel Santos, and Quiterio Cedeño, communication advisor of Asonahores.