SMMEs of the Tourism Sector of Puerto Plata Receive INFOTEP Certificates

SMMEs of the Tourism Sector of Puerto Plata Receive INFOTEP Certificates
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, 12/09/2013

As part of the benefits offered by the program for the strengthening and development of new SMMEs (MIPYMEs – Micro, pequeña y mediana empresa) for the tourism sector of Puerto Plata, the Tourism Cluster of Puerto Plata certified technicians in the areas of “Entrepreneur for SMMEs,” “Bartender,” and “Restaurant waiter.” The training took place in the framework of the FOMIN-IDB project “Tourism Management Based on Cultural Resources,” in coordination with the National Institute of Technical Training (INFOTEP – Instituto Nacional de Formación Técnico Profesional).

The beneficiaries work for businesses in the following sectors: arts, crafts, gastronomy, lodging, gift shops, and water sports. They were trained in their respective areas, on food handling, business plans, market analysis, marketing, costs, and sales techniques, among others.

The beneficiaries work for businesses in the following sectors: arts, crafts, gastronomy, lodging, gift shops, and water sports. They were trained in their respective areas, on food handling, business plans, market analysis, marketing, costs, and sales techniques, among others.

These workshops were conducted in the classrooms of the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Puerto Plata and in the bar and restaurant mobile classroom that INFOTEP has installed in the Juana Caraballo School in the community of Los Domínguez.

The certificate award ceremony was held at the school, and it was attended by representatives of the institutions related to the project.

Graciela González, Financial Director of the Tourism Cluster of the Puerto Plata destination, delivered a few words on behalf of the Cluster. She said that both the Cluster and the FOMIN are committed to continue improving the quality of the human, natural, tourist, historical and cultural resources of the destination. “We believe that by providing education and technical training we are contributing to the objective of improving the competitiveness of our tourism sector and that this is the reason why training has been one of the most important pillars of this project to strengthen the new SMMEs.”

Engineer Rómulo Clark, In Charge of the North Coast Satellite Office, spoke on behalf of the INFOTEP. Clark said that “with the participation of the partner institutions, these communities will receive 125 new technicians who have taken 820 hours of instruction in six training programs.”

He underscored that with the arrival of three mobile classrooms to Puerto Plata this year, the training courses in the areas of tourism, electricity, and maintenance have been expanded, providing training to hundreds of young people from various communities in the province, helping to raise the standards of the human resources required by the sector.

He thanked the Tourism Cluster for being an ally institution in these projects. He also acknowledged the work of the facilitators and especially the leaders of the neighborhood associations of the communities involved.

Presentation of the certificates by Angela Almonte and Kelvin Almeida

Presentation of certificates by Rómulo Clark and Graciela González

Fernando Subero delivers the acceptance remarks on behalf of the group of SMMEs entrepreneurs