UNWTO highlights conditions to invest in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is one of the countries with the best conditions for investment in the tourism sector due to its geographical location, legal certainty and solid political stability, among other factors.

Within the framework of the visit to the country of the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, the entity put into circulation the first Tourism Investment Guide of the Dominican Republic, which has been developed together with the Ministry of Tourism, ProDominicana and with special support from technicians from Banreservas and Banco Popular Dominicano.

The main objective of this guide is to attract, promote and retain investment in sustainable tourism in the Dominican Republic, offering strategic information on the business climate and the growth policy of the current government in this sector.

This promotional tool also has current data on the infrastructure network, investment incentives, and a detailed outline of the country's competitive landscape.

According to Zurab Pololikashvili, the Dominican Republic is a safe country for any type of investment in the Dominican tourism system, because "it is a destination that has proven to be resilient and offers opportunities for all."

The Vice Minister of International Cooperation of MITUR, Carlos Andrés Peguero, highlighted that this guide has been the result of a joint effort by the public and private sectors, in which banks played a special role. He also emphasized that through the investment panorama that the document exposes, an interesting benchmarking is shown on foreign direct investment in tourism, our regulatory framework and the portfolio of tourism investment opportunities.

Natalia Bayona, Director of Innovation, Education and Investment of the UNWTO, the Dominican Republic in the last two years has had a characteristic increase in its economy.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) in the tourism sector of the Dominican Republic during the year 2021 reached US$942 million, which means that, despite the consequences left by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's economy recovered and acquired a significant percentage, of which 38% is attributed to the tourism sector.

The total recovery of employment exceeded 300,000 jobs, of which more than 65 thousand formal jobs, 90,000 direct informal jobs and around 185,000 indirect jobs were recovered in subsectors such as food and beverages, transportation, and other activities related to the value chain tour.

This means that investors have responded, and it is evidenced by the level of foreign direct investment (FDI) made in the Dominican Republic, which is one of the main sources of foreign exchange earnings for the Caribbean country.

According to statistics from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, during the periods 2010 to 2020, the inflow of foreign currency derived from FDI was US$27,934 million, which generated an annual average of US$2,539 million, remaining stable and at a sustainable rate.

Marcial Mestre, director of investment at ProDominicana and on behalf of Biviana Ribeiro, its executive director, highly valued the effort made to have this important tool for investment promotion.

The UNWTO tourist investment guide for the Dominican Republic has been prepared in printed and digital formats, offering for this latest version a QR code with which a greater reach is guaranteed when developing its dissemination at a global level.