latest news on DR tourism

> DR1 Daily News - Friday, 5 May 2000
> 11. Travel trade fair continues this weekend
> The Bolsa Turistica del Caribe, the annual international travel trade
> show continues through Saturday at the Dominican Fiesta Hotel
> convention hall. Some 2,000 travel agents, hotels and allied
> businesses are participating. There are presentations on investing in
> tourism and ecotourism. Tour operators and travel agents from Europe,
> the US, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America have
> come for the event.

Re: DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 2 May 2000>
> 13. Travel trade fair slated for 3 May
> Luís Felipe Aquino, organizer of the Bolsa Turistica del Caribe, announced the travel trade show will take place at the Dominican Fiesta Hotel convention hall 3-6 May. The show in its fourth year is expected to attract 2,000 travel agents, hotels and allied businesses. This year there will be presentations on investing in tourism and ecotourism. Tour operators and travel agents from Europe, the US, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America will be coming.
>

 DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 27 April 2000
>
> 2. 105 power generator installed in Boca Chica
> The government received yesterday the 105 megawatt power barge that
> will be provisionally installed in Andrés, Boca Chica. Radhamés Segura
> said that the plant will soon be connected to the system and will
> provide relief from power outages. An extraordinarily increase in
> power demand, due to the booming economy, and the aging of power
> plants have resulted in power deficits which translate into blackouts
> nationwide.
> The urgency to bring the plant is to resolve power deficit in time for
> the May and June election.
> The government has agreed to move the power plant in three months
> time, responding to protest of the tourist community in Boca Chica.
> While Segura says that the plant is environmentally friendly, the
> tourism executives say the same thing was said about the Smith-Enron
> plant in Puerto Plata. That plant was responsible for the closing down
> of the Bayside Inn and the plummeting of real estate values in the
> Costambar residential area.
> Segura said that the PLD government has made provisions for the
> installation of more than 1,000 megawatts in the next three years.
>
> 5. Mulatas, morenitas y blanquitas
> Mirtha Olivares, of the Ministry of Tourism, criticized PRD
> presidential candidate Hipólito Mejía for referring to women as
> "mulatas, morenitas y blanquitas" that are part of the tourism
> attractions of the Dominican Republic. She interpreted the mention as
> Mejía was promoting sex tourism to the DR. Olivares said that the PRD
> politician offended the dignity of Dominican women when making the
> mention when addressing businessmen during a campaign stop in Miami,
> Florida. Likewise, speaking in representation of the Mujeres
> Reformistas, Alexandra Izquierdo protested the way Mejía denigrated
> Dominican women.
>

 DR1 Daily News - Wednesday, 26 April 2000
> 6. Asonahores criticizes excess of vendor permits
> The executive vice president of Asonahores, Arturo Villanueva
> criticized the excess of vendor permits issued by the Ministry of
> Tourism. He criticized this has led to a proliferation of vendors,
> selling even bathing suits, on East Coast beaches. He says the vendors
> are generating a large amount of garbage, without there being
> municipal authorities that may appropriately dispose of this. He said
> that it is not the job of the hotels to pick up the garbage left by
> these vendors.
> The comments were made after Minister of Tourism Felix Jiménez
> commented that the Ministry had given seven unnamed hotels in the
> Bavaro area three months to improve their solid waste disposal
> management.
>
> 7. Punta Cana Group seeks to reduce area slums
> The Punta Cana Group is carrying out efforts to put a stop to the
> creation of slum areas in the Punta Cana resort region. The resort
> development group, pioneer in the East Coast area, disputed property
> invasion by families for years. The judiciary finally ruled in their
> favor, but they agreed to not evict squatters until after the
> presidential election, conditioning it to the stop of new illegal
> constructions. The Punta Cana group is offering squatters to move to a
> development that is but 200 meters away from their present dwelling.
> There the families would have access to potable water, streets have
> been laid out, and they would be given property titles. The
> development also has areas for schools and for the construction of
> sports installations. Gregorio Abreu, spokesman for the company,
> emphasized in an interview in El Caribe newspaper that the illegal
> occupants of the Punta Cana property will be much better off in the
> new development than in the slum area they have created on Punta Cana
> land.
> Recently, occupants of the disputed Veron area, violently protested
> along the Punta Cana highway. The dispute took place when a police
> patrol detecting a new construction was going up and demanded that it
> be dismantled.
> Abreu expects the situation to be resolved as most of the illegal
> occupants are pleased with the offer, and others that have not yet
> accepted will do so at the moment of the actual eviction. These say
> they fear threats from the group that is still holding on to the
> property.

> DR1 Daily News — Tuesday, 25 April 2000
>
> 1. World Bank to fund infrastructure in resort areas
> The government and the World Bank came to an agreement for the implementation of an ambitious project for the construction of potable water, sewage and garbage collection systems and infrastructure in resort areas nationwide. The project has a price tag of US$120 million of which most would be funded by the multilateral organization.
> A first phase of the project is slated to benefit Puerto Plata. The Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temístocles Montás traveled to Washington, D.C. where he signed a US$7 million agreement with Orsalia Kalantzopoulous, head of the World Bank for the Caribbean region. The World Bank will be contributing US$5 million, and the Dominican government US$2.55 million to start the program.
> The program stipulates that the private sector will control the potable water, sewage and garbage collection operations.
> Similar programs will be implemented in Juan Dolio, Guayacanes, La Romana, Bavaro, Punta Cana, Macao, Samana, Portillo and the National District.
>
> 2. Easter holiday overzealousness affects foreign tourism
> Arturo Villanueva, executive vice president of the National Association of Hotels & Restaurants, protested what he considered the excessive zealousness of the prevention operation implemented by the Civil Defense over the Easter holiday. The operation sought to bring order to resort areas when thousands of Dominicans traditionally throng the beaches.
> As a result, the authorities banned excursions to Saona and fishing boat trips out of the Punta Cana area. Villanueva said this was very detrimental to foreign tourism, as many tourists come with the idea of booking these excursions. The Saona Island excursion is a top-selling excursion.
> For the Easter holiday long weekend (Thursday through Sunday), a Ministry of Tourism resolution affected scuba diving, jet ski, horseback riding and motorized sports in beach and areas.
> The hoisting of tents was also banned.
> Likewise, the government prohibited loud music playing in discotheques, bars, restaurants and cafeterias from Thursday at midnight to Saturday at midnight, even at hotels.
> In protest, local tourists as a result turned on their radios in their hotel rooms at full blast, say news reports from Cabarete, Puerto Plata, where tourist business owners protested the overzealousness of the authorities that closed the discos.
> The Civil Defense authorities also banned the sale of alcoholic beverages on beaches, river sites, highways and public areas in glass containers. Drunks were arrested and sent home. And everyone was ordered off the beaches as of 5:30 pm.
>
> 8. Occidental agrees to buy Allegro
> Occidental Hoteles, the fifth largest Spanish hotel chain, announced it will acquire Allegro Resorts Corporation (www.allegroresorts.com), a company that is regarded as a world leader in the all-inclusive resort industry, with 24 properties in 11 countries. The purchase will make it the largest hotel chain in the Caribbean with a total of 34 properties and the world's largest all-inclusive chain.
> In the Dominican Republic, Allegro operates the Allegro Resort Bavaro, Allegro Resort Bavaro Grand in Punta Cana, as well as the Caribbean Village Club on the Green and Jack Tar Village Puerto Plata in Playa Dorada, and the Caribbean Village Playa Grande in María Trinidad Sánchez province. In addition, the company founded in 1993 has hotels in Antigua, Aruba, Mexico, Venezuela, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Tunisia and Morocco.
> Occidental offers its services through 53 hotels located in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
> In the DR, Occidental is the pioneering Spanish hotel company. It has had a presence since it took over from the Unión Hotelera Dominicana, the operator of the Hotel Embajador. Occidental began operations in 1982. In the DR it operates the Flamenco Playa Dorada and the Flamenco Bavaro, and the Gran Bahia and Cayo Levantado hotels in Samana.
> Local news reports say the purchase price was US$400 million and that Occidental will now operate around 20,000 hotel rooms in Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, Morocco, the Caribbean, Central and South America.
> The capital structure of the Occidental Hoteles group consists of the management team with a 34.32 percent share, the Mercapital Group - 30.63 percent and La Caixa with 27.5 percent plus other minority shareholders. The hotel group previously announced an aggressive expansion plan in July 1999.
> The acquisition will be finalized upon the completion of several necessary steps including a due diligence process and the integration of the two operations.
Received on Sat May 6 17:11:14 2000