Dominican Rep tourism news Dec. 2000- January 2001

> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 12 January 2001
> ********************************************************************
> 1. Whale-watching season starts Monday
> The Ministry of Environment announces the start of the North Coast
> whale-watching season for Monday, 15 January. Already some early
> arrivals have been spotted. Samana, on the North East of the Dominican
> Republic is the center of whale-watching operations. The season
> officially starts 15 January, and continues through the first week of
> March. After that date, very few whales linger on the area. The whales
> come to the warm Caribbean waters to mate.
>
> 8. Cruise of the Millennium
> Millennium, the newest ship of Celebrity Cruise Line began making
> stops at the Isla Catalina off La Romana as of 27 December. Visitors
> will be visiting the island of Catalina from 11 am to 6 pm every 15
> days through 28 April. The stop includes lunch on the lovely beach.
> The Millennium began sailing on 14 June 2000. It has capacity for
> 2,300 passengers and 900 crew members.
> On the same trip tourists visit Catalina, they will also sail to San
> Juan, Puerto Rico, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and Nassau. The
> 7-night Eastern Caribbean vacation starts and ends in Fort Lauderdale,
> Florida.
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 8 January 2001

> 3. NYT: Differences between Punta Cana and Cancún
> The New York Times published an extensive article and photographs on
> Punta Cana in its 7 January 2001 Sunday Travel section. Entitled,
> "From the Scrub Comes a Behemoth," the article by Scott Norvell
> reflects the boom in US travel to the eastern coast of the DR. The
> author couldn't resist drawing parallels to Punta Cana being the next
> Cancún while pointing out there are more differences than similarities
> between both areas. "It's the next Cancún. The label has stuck on
> Punta Cana. In the travel trade press. On the tongues of agents…" he
> starts his article to quickly admit, people couldn't be more wrong.
> "It's too bad, because Punta Cana and Cancún, in Mexico, couldn't be
> more different." He then goes to point out the many differences, such
> as high rise versus low rise resorts, low density of resorts versus
> cramming of hotels, crowds and urban mayhem in Cancun versus abundance
> of semi-deserted beaches in Punta Cana. But, he admits, "things are
> changing quickly" with golf courses, time shares and beachfront vendor
> villages everywhere. He also points out that the Europeans have
> claimed Punta Cana first, and their influence shows in the bathing
> wear and in the food served.
>
> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 20 December 2000
> ********************************************************************
> 8. Good year forecast for Punta Cana
> Jaime García, president of the Asociacion de Tour Operadores
> Receptivos (OPETUR), one of the leading tour operator organizations,
> said that Punta Cana is the hot destination for this winter season in
> the US. He said that Apple Vacations is focusing on Punta Cana and the
> market is responding. He said that Puerto Plata is also recovering its
> popularity.
> He forecast that the opening of the La Romana International Airport
> will change the way vacations to the East Coast are marketed. He said
> that with a single flight tour operators could sell vacations to Punta
> Cana and to hotels in the Dominicus-Bayahibe-La Romana area.
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 18 December 2000
> 1. Needed roads announced for the East
> President Hipólito Mejía announced the construction of the San Pedro
> de Macorís-Verón highway. The highway will link tourist areas in
> southeastern Juan Dolio-Guayacanes with those in eastern Punta
> Cana-Bavaro. The funds for the 98-kilometer highway have been set
> aside in the 2001 National Budget. The highway will pick up traffic
> from the new Autovía del Este that is well advanced.
> The announcement was made during the government council held in El
> Seibo.
> The Mejía government also said that priority will be given to the
> construction of other main roads in the area, including the roads:
> Higüey-Otra Banda-Cruce de Bavaro, the Hato-Mayor-Sabana de la
> Mar-Miches, El Seibo-Miches, Cruce de Higüey-Bayahibe, Cruz de
> Isleño-Macao, Higüey-Nisibón-Miches, Boca de Yuma-Higüey, Cruce-El
> Pintao-La Romana roads.
> During the meeting, President Mejia ordered ministers of Environment,
> Frank Moya Pons and Tourism, Ramón Bordas to travel to Miches to
> redefine the possibilities for tourism investment in that area.
> He also announced the start of a major program to plant fruit trees.
>
>
> 11. Construction begun on Juan Dolio golf course
> Construction began formally at the Guavaberry Golf & Country Club. The
> Los Palos Golf Course will be Juan Dolio beach's second golf course.
> The country club features a 36-hole Guavaberry Golf Club, tennis,
> swimming, equestrian (including polo field), commercial and
> residential areas.
> For the start of the first 18-holes of the golf course, Secretary of
> the Presidency Sergio Grullón, Minister of Public Works Miguel Vargas
> were present.
> Also investors Jesús Rodríguez Sandoval, and key executives of the BHD
> business group consortium. Gary Player of the Gary Players Design and
> Gary Player Golf Academy organization was present for the event. The
> golf course has been named Los Palos Golf Course.
> According to the Gary Player organization, the property on which the
> golf course is going up is rich in natural features, all of which are
> being incorporated into the design of the golf course. Three different
> and distinctive areas have emerged which will give golfers the
> enjoyable variety of playing the first few holes on rolling terrain
> surrounded by extensive vegetation, then out into the open where they
> will play over and around lakes and a natural canyon and finish on
> holes that will feature extensive use of exposed coral.
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 15 December 2000
> ********************************************************************
>
> 1. New La Romana International Airport
> 12. Hotel Association wants freeze on hotel construction
>
> 1. New La Romana International Airport
> President Hipolito Mejía formally inaugurated the La Romana
> International Airport. The southeastern airport went up at a cost of
> RD$421 million. It is the most modern and technologically advanced in
> the DR. It replaces the Punta Aguila landing field within Casa de
> Campo. Tourists heading to Dominicus/Bayahibe, Juan Dolio, La Romana
> hotels, and residents in the cities of La Romana, San Pedro de Macorís
> and Higuey will find the terminal attractively located.
> The new airport is located on a 3.8 square kilometer lot. It was built
> by Moya Supervisiones y Construcciones in record time, 14 months.
> The airport is located in Batey Cacata, 110 kilometers east of Santo
> Domingo. It complies with all requirements of the Federal Aviation
> Association (FAA) of the United States and the International Civil
> Aviation Organization of the United Nations.
> The 9,000-square meter terminal's architectural design gives visitors
> the impression of entering a sugar mill. Interior decoration
> reinforces the impression. The owner of the airport, the Central
> Romana, operates the largest sugar mill in the country. The sugar mill
> business later diversified into real estate, tourism, cattle ranching
> and free zone operations.
> The 2,950 meter long/45 meter wide runway has a 110º -290º, East-West
> orientation. It has a 245 meter taxi way. The parking area has
> capacity for 12 large buses, and 500 vehicles.
> A separate domestic flight terminal is part of the airport. This
> terminal will be in operation in February 2001.
> American Airlines flies into the airport from Miami, and American
> Eagle provides service from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
>
>
> 12. Hotel Association wants freeze on hotel construction
> In an interview for the Listín Diario, Ramón Prieto, president of the
> National Hotel & Restaurant Association (Asonahores) wants the
> government to put a halt on permits for hotel construction in the DR.
> He said that the present hotel inventory would permit a 50% increase
> in the number of arrivals. He said that the new hotels that have
> opened have not positively affected the number of arrivals. Growth of
> the tourism sector last year (September 1999-September 2000) was
> 16.1%, according to the Central Bank.
> Prieto said that the organization is trying to promote a freeze on the
> construction of hotel rooms in Punta Cana, Puerto Plata and Santo
> Domingo. Only niche market hotels should be allowed, he said. He said
> that they favor new hotel construction in newer areas, such as Monte
> Cristi, Samana, Barahona, Jarabacoa and Constanza.
> "If we could capture higher paying segments of the market, in two
> years we could again accept the construction of more hotel rooms," he
> said.
> He told the newspaper that Asonahores' figures show that the increase
> in occupancy for November was 4.7%. He said occupancy in 1999 was 67%,
> and this year it should be 69%.
> "With 30% of the hotels empty, we could accept a 50% increase in the
> number of arrivals without having to build more hotels," he said.
> He said that the expected growth should come from the French and US
> markets.

DR1 Daily News -- Thursday, 14 December 2000
> 5. New directors of tourism offices
> The Ministry of Tourism presented the new directors of tourism offices
> in the United States and Canada. These are Mercedes Perelló, New York
> Tomás Otaño, Miami
> Leandro Reynoso, Chicago
> Amalia Morillo, Puerto Rico
> Diana Cruz, Montreal
> Rejane Cedeño, Toronto
> Linda Camarena, US
> Danny Dávila, North America, tourism counsel
>

> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 13 December 2000
> ********************************************************************
> 4. Minister of Agriculture favors more organic produce
> During the inauguration of the nation's first organic sugar mill,
> Minister of Agriculture Eligio Jáquez highlighted the country's
> potential as a producer of organic products. He said the country could
> soon become a leader in the export of organic sugar. The Procesadora
> de Caña Orgánica Cruz Verde was inaugurated in Yabacao, Monte Plata.
> It is a RD$50 million investment. This project has the support
> Frederich Naumann Stiftung, a German non-governmental organization and
> the European Union. Present at the inaugural was the Ambassador of
> Germany, Eva Alexandra Countess Von Kendessy, and the governor of
> Monte Plata, Antolín Valdez Núñez.
> The DR is also a major producer of organic bananas and organic
> chocolate.

> 8. Popular Dominican hotelier returns
> Jose Manuel Lovaton Franco is back. The former president of the
> National Hotel & Restaurant Association has returned to Santo Domingo
> after nine years abroad. He is back as general manager of the Hotel V
> Centenario Inter-Continental.
> Lovatón was practically born into the hotel business as he is the son
> of "Don Mencho" Lovatón, who in the early days of tourism industry was
> a top ranking Inter-Continental executive when that chain operated the
> legendary Hotel Embajador in the 60s and 70s.
> Born in Miami, Florida, he studied business at Unapec in Santo Domingo
> and hotel administration at Florida International University. He
> worked in the DR for 10 years reaching the position of director of
> operations of the Santo Domingo Sheraton, and holding the position of
> president of the Dominican hotels association.
> "Josie" Lovatón left to try himself out where he was not so well
> known. For six years, he worked at the Pelican Resorts and Casino, a
> 1,400-room hotel in St. Martin. In 1994, he joined Inter-Continental
> in 1994 to take charge of their operations in Tequendama and Río
> Negro, Colombia. He was based in Medellín.
> Lovatón announced in an interview in Hoy newspaper that
> Inter-Continental Hotel chain is contemplating operating a hotel in
> Santiago and another in Bávaro.
>
> 9. Pact Arim first project approved for Colonial City
> A French non-governmental organization, Pact Arim has announced plans
> to build around 300 apartments, shelling colonial edifices, but
> keeping their façades, according to a report in El Siglo. The present
> occupants of the rundown buildings will be given first option on the
> purchase of the dwellings that will sell from RD$350,000 to RD$1
> million. Pact Arim will assist them in obtaining jobs or setting up
> businesses to increase their incomes to a minimum of RD$6,000 a month
> to quality for the smaller dwellings. Mortgage banks and loans and
> savings entities will be participating in the financing of the
> dwellings.
> The program is overseen by the Oficina de Patrimonio Cultural. OPC has
> already approved the first project that will be a commercial office
> building at 464 Padre Billini.
>
> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 11 December 2000
> 6. Los Corbanitos to be developed privately
> President Hipólito Mejía authorized that CORDE, the state corporations
> enterprise, through the Banco de Reservas, begin negotiations to
> transfer Playa Los Corbanitos beach area in Bahía de las Calderas to
> the Fundación para el Desarrollo Banilejo, a southwestern development
> foundation. The promoters of the idea hope to convert the beach
> property into a southwestern option for tourists. President Mejía
> announced his decision after meeting with Luís Manuel Tejeda, Mirope
> Peña and Luisín Mejía of the Fundación, the Bishop of the Diocese of
> Bani, Monsignor Freddy Bretón, and the governor of the province of
> Peravia, Nelson Camilo Landestoy.
>
> 8. Jarabacoa residents protest detour of river
> Thousands of residents in Jarabacoa participated in a Catholic mass
> organized by the Support Group Pro Defense of the Yaque del Norte
> River. The group is heading a protest of the Jarabacoa against the
> detouring of the Yaque del Norte River, the largest in the country, to
> the community of Los Dajaos. The river needs to be detoured to start
> the construction of the Bejucal-Manabao-Tavera river. The community of
> Jarabacoa says that earlier studies carried out in the 80s showed that
> the detouring of the river would affect river rafting and flower
> growing, among other activities in the La Vega province community.
>
Received on Fri Jan 12 18:22:27 2001