The Dominican Republic is ready to push a flagship airline
The Dominican Republic will have a flagship airline, said president of Luis Abinader.
“We are going to have a flagship airline that will be mainly from the Dominican capital that is in process. In about 30 days we will make an (official) announcement because we want an important group to join”, said the president during a breakfast with the press that covers Fitur.
He indicated that the airline, together with the others that have Dominican capital, will help improve travel prices to and from the Dominican Republic.
The president highlighted the results obtained in Fitur and how the image of the country was promoted.
“The Dominican Republic is trendy, all the hotel chains have approached with the commitment to invest. The best times, if we continue to work as we have, are yet to come”, he added.
Abinader reaffirmed the government’s decision to do whatever it takes to boost tourism after the pandemic.
“We decided to recover tourism because when looking at the statistics, this is the sector that had decreased the most. We had to pay special attention to tourism”, he said.
He also spoke about the immediate projects that are being developed in Puerto Plata, in a trust with Banreservas.
“Bergantín (beach) will serve to relaunch hotel tourism in Puerto Plata, which has begun to improve due to the presence of cruise ships,” he explained.
The Playa Bergantín project will be a complex of five hotels to be developed on land that Banreservas bought for US$75 million from the Central Bank.
The project joins the film studio being built in Puerto Plata by actor Vin Diesel.
Hotel employees
Abinader said that in meetings with the main Spanish hotel groups based in the country, he was informed of the need for five thousand employees in the tourism sector for the country, mainly in the eastern zone.
“Next week we will do a recruitment of five thousand positions for hotels in Punta Cana, we call the Minister of Labor and he is already preparing that,” he said.
In addition, he said that the centers of the Technical Institute for Vocational Training will be expanded to produce the necessary human resources.
“We are duplicating the Infotep centers throughout the country to create these technicians,” he assured.
Convention Center
During the activity, Abinader also announced the construction of a convention center in the Dominican capital.
“Santo Domingo is the city with the largest number of inhabitants that does not have a convention center. An agreement was signed with Ifema, where Fitur is made, and they are advising us on the design and we have a memorandum of understanding for them to advise. In two weeks the announcement will be made where it will be lifted. It will serve not only as an exhibition center but also as a very modern meeting center to be able to hold dual meetings – face-to-face and virtual,” said Abinader.
He noted that he cannot yet disclose the construction site but that the announcement will be made in the coming days.