Puerto Rico Supports Dominican Regional Tourism Strategy

Puerto Rican Minister of Tourism, Jaime López, backed a proposal made by Dominican Tourism Minister Francisco Javier García to develop a regional tourism strategy to attract international visitors. They agreed that a mutual plan involving the Caribbean islands is the best approach.

“Ya no se trata solamente de islas específicas, sino que como tema regional nuestra competencia ya no son nuestros vecinos, nuestra competencia es Asia, Europa, etcétera”..

Jaime López said the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico should assume leadership roles to position the Caribbean Region as a viable destination for North American as well as European tourists.

Mr. López made this proposal during a courtesy visit to his Dominican counterpart Francisco Javier García, with whom he discussed strategies to be followed for both Caribbean destinations. They discussed the integration of other countries to form a Caribbean block.

“It is not a question anymore of specific individual neighboring islands but rather how to deal with places outside of our region such as Asia, Europe, etc,”  said López while visiting the Dominican stand at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR-2009) in Madrid.

To form a mutual front would be a move that is truly and consistently in keeping with the Puerto Rican government’s program as well as the philosophy of the Tourism Ministry of the island, “in that it deals with  regional issues, not just island issues.” 

Mr. López’s support for this plan is a consequence of the suggestion previously made by Mr. García Fernández at the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in Madrid.  Mr. Fernández said it is necessary to develop a regional strategy to attract the largest number of tourists from the hands of the main tour operators in the world.

García Fernández said that the world is affected by a serious financial crisis , but that tourism is not. He cautioned that tourism should be viewed as an opportunity for countries to offer excellent and attractive deals such as the Dominican Republic but that countries should not encourage pessimistic discourse that could ultimately hurt their tourism activities. 

Dominican and Puerto Rican Tourism Ministers Francisco Javier García and Jaime López, talking at the Dominican stand FITUR-2009.