Simón Suárez Expects the Everything Included to Grow in the Southern and Northwestern Regions

Simón Suárez Expects the Everything Included to Grow in the Southern and Northwestern Regions
Santo Domingo, March 30th, 2015

The President of the Dominican Republic Hotels and Tourism Association (ASONAHORES for its acronym in Spanish) expects the future growth of tourism development in the southern and northwestern regions of the country with all-inclusive hotels that will continue as our “core commodity”.

“The all-inclusive model is the bread and butter of our hotel industry, which is the crux of our competitive advantage, the foundation of our industry’s welfare, and a product with a great future that follows the most progressive trends in the travel industry,” said Simón Suárez.

In his remarks of last March 26 at the Tourism and Investment Forum, organized by the Dominican-Swiss Chamber of Commerce and the Dominican Republic Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD for its acronym in Spanish) at the Embassy Suites By Hilton hotel in Santo Domingo, Suárez said that the added value of the all-inclusive model will continue to grow. “The trend towards excellence and high value that has made the all-inclusive luxury hotels such as the Drowsy Water Ranch in Colorado, United States, and The Caves de Negril in Jamaica to stand out, will continue and will be strengthened.”

The President of ASONAHORES offered a picture of the Dominican and global hospitality industry and described the future prospects in the short and medium terms. “We will continue diversifying the tourism product in luxury hotels of conventional operation; we will seek to become a destination for meetings and conventions, and we will exploit the niches of ecotourism, health tourism and the retirees,” he said.

“Also, we will increasingly take advantage of the demands that come from golfers, divers, extreme sports athletes, fine diners and all the various consumers who demand specialized products.

From the CEI-RD
Paola Ynfante, of the Dominican Republic Export and Investment Center, urged all investors, either local or foreign, to procure the services of the One Stop Investment Window (VUI-RD for its acronym in Spanish) to reap the advantages and benefits that this tool provides, through which investors are ensured great savings in terms of time and total transparency in their investment process.

The VUI-RD Deputy Manager for Development, who spoke on behalf of the Executive Director of the CEI-RD, Jean Alain Rodríguez, explained the most significant achievements of the VUI-RD since its implementation in 2012. Among them she mentioned 15 projects that have been created with an investment of over US$2 billion, and which are projected to generate more than 14,500 jobs.

Infrastructure
Federico Sommaruga, Director of Switzerland Tourism Emerging Markets, said that the Dominican Republic requires further investing in infrastructure to consolidate this activity as part of the development of its economy. “As a first step, what is needed is the development of roads and transportation. I think that this element is essential. And then more hotels and infrastructure, but the beach here is the best, people come for the beach,” he said.

The event was organized by the Dominican-Swiss Chamber of Commerce (CCTDS for its acronym in Spanish) and the Dominican Republic Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD). It was attended by the Ambassador of Switzerland in the country, Line Marie León Pernet; the President of the CCTDS, Gaetan Bucher; the representative of Swiss Tourism, Federico Sommaruga; Simón Suárez, President of the Dominican Republic Hotels and Tourism Association (ASONAHORES); Luis Molina, Vice President of Corporate Banking at Banco BHD-León; Edward Baldera, Business Vice President of Banco Popular Dominicano (BPD); Daiana Lagger, Marketing Director of Swiss Education Group, and Paola Ynfante, from the CEI-RD, among other tourism experts.

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