31/01/00
> > 1. Tourism to DR grows 10.3% in 1999 compared to 1998
> > Air tourist arrivals were up 16.3% in 1999 compared to 1998, according to the Hotel & Restaurant Association (Asonahores). In general travel to the DR grew 10.3%, much more than the 4% average country per country listed by the World Tourism Organization. "It has been a good year for the tourism industry," says Asonahores.
> > According to the tourism industry organization’s statistics, last year 2,685,855 tourists arrived by way of Dominican airports, 376,000 more than in 1998. In 1999, there were 240,000 maritime arrivals. Cruise ship travel is said to have increased 8%.
> > Asonahores says that tourism receipts in 1999 reached US$2,473 million, up 15.5% when compared to US$2,142 million in 1998.
> > Asonahores says there are now 49,200 hotel rooms in the DR, with an additional 5,000 under construction.
> > New golf courses are under construction in the Punta Cana-Bavaro area along the East Coast as well as in Juan Dolio, La Romana along the southeastern coastline. Furthermore, the organization says that construction of three convention centers will begin this year in Bavaro, Juan Dolio and Bayahibe-Dominicus areas.
> > Travel to the DR is divided as: United States 25.3%, Germany 21.2%, Canada 8%, Spain 6.5%, Italy 6.4%, France 5.9%. Travel from Europe 56%, while North Americans contributed 34%.
> > Growth rates were highest from France with 22%, Spain 18%, Italy 16% and the US 15%.
> > Asonahores highlighted that foreign companies invested more than US$1,374 million in tourism facilities in 1999, up from US$700 in 1998.
> >
>
> > 8. Paradores in Salinas, Palenque, Playa Caribe and Nagua
> > The Ministry of Tourism announced that it expects the tourism "paradores" to be completed by August. These are primarily frequented by Dominican beach-goers. They will offer washroom facilities as well as food sales. These are:
> > Playa Caribe (3,000 square meters), between Boca Chica and Juan Dolio, in the National District Playa Caribe (southeast).
> > Cocolandia in Playa Palenque (3,000 square meters), San Cristóbal province (southwest).
> > Punta Salinas (40,000 square meters) in Peravia province, RD$500,000 investment.
> > Poza de Bojola (50,000 meters), in Nagua, María Trinidad Sánchez (northeast), RD$300,000 investment.
>
> > DR1 Daily News Monday, 27 December 1999
> >
> > 2. Seagulls visit a month earlier
> > El Caribe newspaper reports that the seagulls (Larus) that migrate to Dominican coasts during the winter months have arrived a month earlier. This is attributed to climate changes in the planet. This winter, the seagulls have come during the first and second week of December. It was normal for them to fly south during the first two weeks of January. They can usually be observed in the morning hours flying over the Caribbean Sea facing Santo Domingo near the coasts where they feed off rests of marine animals and small fish.
> >
> > 3. Whale-watching season starts 15 January
> > The Department of Parks announces that the whale-watching season starts 15 January through 30 March 2000. Only boats with permission from the Department of Parks can carry out whale-watching trips within the marine mammals sanctuaries of the North Coast.
> > The boats need to meet whale-watching regulations that are being enforced in both the Silver Banks (north of Puerto Plata) and the Bay of Samana. Airplanes cannot fly lower than 1,000 meters within the Sanctuary, as established by Law 67.
> > The rates for visiting the areas and participating in whale-watching in Samana Bay are RD$20 per person (Dominicans are exempt from the payment). The tickets can be purchased at the Department of Parks, in the ticket booths at the ports of departure or directly from the companies that provide maritime transport and those that sell excursions. For more information, contact the Department of Parks, Tels. 472-4102, 472-3911 and 472-4104, Fax 472-4012 or email dnpballenas@yahoo.com
> >
> > 4. DR is leading producer of organic bananas
> > The Center for the Promotion of Exports says that the DR has become the leading producer and exporter of organic bananas in the world. Dominican-based companies exported 26,000 tons of organic bananas to markets in US and Europe (Holland, Germany, Belgium and Italy) during the first half of the year. Exports totaled US$4,113,596 (FOB) between January and July. The DR passed Mexico as the leading supplier to the US and Japan. Organic bananas were first planted in Azua, in the Southwest in 1989. Today there are 700 producers. A Cedopex study shows that the DR has the most organic farms Latin America with 9,000 farmers, followed by Costa Rica with 3,500 farmers. There are coffee, cacao, coconuts and mangos organic plantations in the DR in addition to the banana plantations.
>
> - CUBA / Aumento de la oferta
> Este año la oferta aumentara en tres mil 600 habitaciones. Se espera que
> el auge de construcciones para el turismo continuara.
> La isla proyecta recibir siete millones de viajeros en el 2010.
>
> - CUBA / Nueva vía de comunicación
> Un pedraplen de 39 kilómetros enlazara los Cayos Santa Maria y Guillermo
> de las cayerias de Villa Clara y Ciego de Ávila,
> respectivamente, importante unión para el desarrollo turístico de la
> zona. La realización de la vía se encuentra en fase de
> estudio con objeto de que su ejecución provoque el mínimo impacto al
> ecosistema. Avanza la construcción del primer hotel en
> Cayo Santa María con 300 habitaciones.
> Cortesía de Jesús Álvarez Valdés - <jesus@usp.br>
>
> > ********************************************************************************
> > DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 25 November 1999
> >
> > ********************************************************************************
>
> > 6. Samana mega project on hold
> > El Siglo reports that the construction of a mega tourism port and residential and tourism development on the Malecón of Samana has been paralyzed. The newspaper reports that Samana residents are complaining of the abandon in which the builders have left the area. The ambitious project had been begun in May with the attendance of President Leonel Fernández. It calls for an investment of RD$4,000 million. The project met with opposition of environmentalists when the Instituto Nacional de Protección Ambiental (INPRA) alerted that the displacement of mud to prepare for the port construction was probably to blame for the death of thousands of fish in the bay area. The government environmental organization said that the builders of the project did not carry out the required environmental impact study prior to starting the construction. Promoters of the project are Bancalari, Delgado y Asociados. El Siglo says that delays in getting government clearance with the presentation of a!
!
!
dequ!
> > ate studies could be behind the suspension of the construction.
> >
> > 7. German funds to preserve largest river in the DR
> > The governments of the Dominican Republic and Germany signed a financial cooperation agreement for RD$85 million (10 million Marks) to fund the planting of trees to prevent erosion at the Yaque del Norte River, the most important in the DR. The Krenditanstalf fur Wiederaufbau institution will handle the funds. Technical Secretary of the Presidency Juan Temístocles Montás signed the five year agreement for the Dominican government. Ambassador of Germany Eva Alexandra Countess Kendeffy signed for Germany.
> >
> 22-11-99
>
> 11. Half million to promote DR tourism in Britain Minister of Tourism
> Felix Jiménez said that the government will invest US$500,000 in
> promotion in the English market. Advertising agency AGK, George Niklas
> was contracted to do the job. More over, the public relations firm, PR
> Result was also hired to implement a marketing plan at a cost of
> US$100,000. Dominican Ambassador in the United Kingdom, Pedro
> Padilla Tonos and president of the National Association of Hotels and
> Restaurants, Rafael Blanco Canto attended the signing of the agreements
> in Santo Domingo
>
> 18-11-99
> DR.
> >
> > 10. Tourism stats
> > The National Hotel & Restaurant Association reports that tourism grew 9.4% from January to August 1999. From January to August 1999, some 1,495,208 arrived, up from the 1,366,256 foreign visitors that came during the same period last year.
> >
> > 11. Copa announces new DR-Cuba connection
> > Copa airlines announced its morning and afternoon flights to Havana yesterday. Flights will depart Santo Domingo at 8:25 am, arriving 1:05 pm in Havana. Afternoon flight departure time is 5:25 pm arriving 10:05 pm. The return flights from Cuba depart at 7 am arriving 1:35 pm in Santo Domingo and at 4 pm arriving 10:40 pm. The flight makes a stopover in Panama. For more information, call 809 472-2672 or www.copaair.com
> > Cubana de Aviación is the only carrier that flies direct to Cuba from Santo Domingo.
> >
>
> 9-11-99
>
> 12. 2.6 million visits by years’ end Minister of Tourism Felix Jimenez
> said that this year more than 2,600,000 tourists will visit the DR. He
> said this is a 10% increase over last year’s visitors. Last year an
> estimated 2,200,000 tourists visited the DR. He said there has been an
> increase in US, French, German, Spanish, Italian, English tourists. The
> US and French markets are up 25%; the German market will grow 20%; and
> the Spanish and Italian markets are up about 10%. He said that
> Argentinean tourism has declined from 89,000 travelers in 1998 to 65,000
> so far this year, reflecting the economic problems in that South
> American nation. Swedish travel is up. In the first nine months of the
> year some 22,000 Swedish tourists had visited and the year’s total is
> expected to reach
> 30,000.
>
> ----
> > 4. Poor paid forest guards little help to stop disforestation
> > The Listín Diario newspaper highlights today the continuous efforts of the local authorities to avoid the disforestation of the Dominican side of the frontier area by Haitian immigrants. Haitian farmers have devastated the Haitian countryside converting that land into a great desert, as can be evidenced by the change in landscape when flying from the Dominican frontier over to Haiti. The Haitian farming technique consists of removing trees and planting on a hill. The farmers move on to another area when erosion depletes the soil. They leave behind large disforested tracks, starting a cycle of little rains and creating desert-like lands.
> > The Listín Diario reporter participated with the Dominican Army in an effort to plant trees in the Dajabón-Elías Piña area and was impressed when watching how the military had to plant the trees among tracks of corn, yucca and other produce in lands taken over by the illegal Haitian migrants. The Dominican side of the frontier is scantly populated by Dominicans. In a lesser degree than their Haitian neighbors, the Dominicans have also been responsible for disforestating, not for subsistence farming, but for selling of the wood to furniture-makers.
> > The Listín Diario reports that the wages paid the few forest guards, are so low — RD$1,000 a month (US$62 a month) — forest guards can easly be bribed by the Haitian farmers. The newspaper urges that a force of well paid forest guards be sent to the frontier area to aid in reducing the pace of disforestation that has increased due to the greater influx of Haitian migrants.
> > The Dominican frontier with Haiti is over 300 kilometers long, and most has no surveillance of any sort.
> > The Donald Dod National Park (Sierra del Bahoruco), one of the most important ecological reserves in the Caribbean, is located along the frontier with Haiti.
> >
> > 5. 30 million trees before end of government
> > President Leonel Fernández announced that the government has plans to plant 30 million trees before ending its term in power. President Fernández cannot run for re-election and his term ends 16 August 2000. President Fernández recently visited Loma de Los Arroyones in Villa Altagracia to participate in a planting effort. The trees in this area are being planted to reforest several of the main river basins of the country. The effort is part of the Quisqueya Verde Plan, that is head by Vice President Jaime David Fernández Mirabal.
> >
>
> 30-1-99
>
> 11. 113 cruise ships stops in the DR this winter Minister of Tourism
> Felix Jiménez says that cruise ships will make 113 stops at Dominican
> ports, bringing 116,572 tourists on board from 13 October to 30 April
> 2000. Ships will make 73 stops at the Port of Santo Domingo, bringing
> 58,150 tourists. Catalina Island in La Romana will receive 40 cruise
> ship visits, bringing 58,150 tourists. Ships and number of passengers on
> board that will be visiting Santo Domingo are the Emerald (1,100), Topaz
> (1,050), Carrousel (1,150), Flamenco (800), Bolero (600), Arkona (450),
> Vistamar (400), Berlin (500) and Columbus (400). Isla Catalina (La
> Romana) will receive the Victoria (1,930), Classica (1,250); Romantica
> (1404), Arcadia (1,300) and Aida (1,000). Celebrity Cruises’ Century
> docked at Isla Catalina on Wednesday, 24 October for 10 hours. The ship
> was en route to the Virgin Islands but had to detour due to damages
> caused by Hurricane Lenny.
>
> >> DEcember 7th 1999
>
> > 5. Hipólito would revamp tourism industry
> > Presidential candidate Hipólito Mejía said on campaign over the weekend that he is proposing the creation of a Tourism Development Council made up by members of the private and public sectors. The role of the council would be to relaunch the tourism industry and revise the industry-related legislation as well as implement a national tourism territorial order plan. He is proposing to eliminate all fiscal distortions that make the tourism product more expensive, and affects its competitiveness. He also promised to confront the problems that affect the aviation industry.
> > He presented his program to tourism organization leaders gathered at the Hotel Embajador on Sunday. Present at the event was his vice presidential candidate, Milagros Ortiz Bosch.
> > Mejía spoke of the need to build and maintain due infrastructure in tourism areas, tackle the environmental issues, reorganize the public institutions, modernize the legislation and rulings of the industry as a sine qua non condition to achieving real development in the sector.
> > He said that if he wins the elections, he proposes to promote investment in the many travel-related activities, and put into place an effective tourism promotion campaign.
> > He says that because he believes in tourism, he commits to promote a sustained process of consolidation and expansion of the industry which he says plays a strategic role in the economic and social development of the country.
> > He said he would strengthen and modernize the Ministry of Tourism, as well as the institutions of the private sector.
> > He says his government program calls for building basic infrastructure, health centers, schools, housing, rural roads, urban reorganization, signposting and for the modernization of transport.
>
> > DR1 Daily News Friday, 10 December 1999
>
> > 11. 16,000 hotel rooms in Punta Cana destination
> > Frank Rainieri, who can be recognized as the promoter of the Punta Cana beach strip, told the Listín Diario that air arrivals using the Punta Cana International Airport were up 20% compared to last year. He said there are 16,000 hotel rooms in the eastern Macao-Punta Cana area, which makes it the largest single Caribbean destination. He said flights to Punta Cana have increased from 110 a week to 220, but there has not been an increase in occupancy because of the increase in hotel rooms in the area. He was interviewed in Miami, where he traveled to talk with Central American tourism investors that are interested in the Punta Cana tourism development model. He said in Punta Cana there are 3,000 more rooms than in 1998. He said that last year the average stay was 12 days, but this year it dropped to less than 10 days. He said that to maintain the same level of occupancy, there would have to be a 30% increase in travelers. The decline in the average stay comes with the incre!
!
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ase !
> > in US travelers. American tourists usually come for a week, versus two weeks of the European travelers.
-- ******************************************************************** Yacine Khelladi <yacine@aacr.net> Research Coordinator Kiskeya Alternative Destination Project http://kiskeya-alternative.org tel: 1-809-537 89 77 (voicemail) Fax: 1-809-221 42 19 Fax to email gateway: 1-209-882-6121 (USA) P.O.Box 109-Z Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
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