Frank Rainieri predicts a 50 percent recovery of tourism by August
Dominican tourism entrepreneur, Frank Rainieri, assured in Madrid, Spain, that the reactivation of tourism is a reality, which is why he is optimistic about the recovery of the industry in the Dominican Republic.
Within the framework of the Madrid International Tourism Fair FITUR-2021, Rainieri affirmed that the “sustained growth” experienced by the tourism sector in the Dominican Republic in recent months will represent a reactivation of 50% between July and August.
“Some have an agenda to start in July, others in August, and others in the winter, but we are all aware that the reactivation of the industry is a reality”, Rainieri said.
The Dominican businessman said that the expectations of the industry are clear according to the statistics that place March 2021 as the best month for the sector since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
“In April we increased 12% in the arrival of tourists through the Punta Cana International Airport, and in May we are already above April. That means that growth is sustained”, he explained.
In that sense, Rainieri said that for July and August of this year they expect to be above 50% compared to the arrivals of 2019, which would be a great achievement for the country to reach those numbers.
“That is important for the country because those numbers are a 50% ratio, which implies tens of thousands of people working, the agricultural producers supplying the hotels, the industrial producers as well; the renewal and relaunch of the stopped projects and the start of new projects”.
The businessman stressed that this reactivation is being noticed in the case of the Dominican Republic “we have the advantage that today all employees in the industry and hotels are vaccinated”.
Regarding vaccination, he also said that he aspires that all residents in the Punta Cana-Bávaro tourist district are inoculated, because “it would bring tranquility and security to the visitor to know that everyone is vaccinated in the area”.
He affirms that 60% of the population that resides in that tourist pole is already vaccinated and hopes that the business community and other actors in the sector will continue to push until they have 100% of those who live in the area immunized, which is estimated to be about 120 thousand people.
However, despite his optimism for the recovery of the industry, Frank Rainieri said that vaccination does not mean lowering your guard.
“On the contrary, that optimism should be accompanied by messages to the Dominicans to maintain protocols, mask, distance, and get vaccinated so that we can minimize this pandemic and that we can reduce it until it is considered just the flu”.