Dominican Rep tourism news in english

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> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 26 March 2001
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> 2. Jet Skiing again banned in Punta Cana
> The Ministry of Tourism has reinstated the ban on the use of jet skis
> in the Punta Cana-Bavaro beach areas. Resolution 05-2001 of the
> Ministry of Tourism nullifies its Resolution 02-2001 issued on 8
> January 2001. Jet ski use is now banned on the beaches located from
> Punta Cana to Boca de Maimon, Macao and Uvero Alto. This had been
> requested by hoteliers in the area who are concerned about the safety
> of their guests.
> The Ministry did not outlaw the use of jet skis in other areas of the
> country.
>
> 3. Beaches for people during Easter
> As per Resolution 03/2001, the Ministry of Tourism announced that the
> use of jet skis, wave runners, motor boats, horses, motorcycles and
> vehicles is banned at most Dominican beaches for Easter Week. The ban
> affects all beaches, including Boca Chica, Playa Caribe, Guayacanes,
> Juan Dolio, Isla Catalina, Bayahibe, Saona, Punta Cana, Bavaro, Samana,
> Cayo Levantado, Las Galeras, Las Terrenas, Matanzas, Matancita, Los
> Gringos, El Caleton, Playa Grande, Cabarete, Sosua, Playa Dorada, Long
> Beach, Luperon, Punta Rucia, Los Patos, Playa Monte Rio, Palmar de
> Ocoa, Salinas, and Palenque. The ban is effective from Saturday, 7
> April to Monday, 16 April.
> The Easter Week prohibition has been on for many years to preserve the
> safety of beach goers. Easter Week is the peak of the beach-going
> season for Dominicans, and beaches are particularly full for the Easter
> long weekend.
>
> 7. Money crops produce less in 2000
> The Dominican Center for the Promotion of Exports (Cedopex) reports
> that traditional exports were down 5% in 2000. Traditional exports
> include raw and refined sugar and the sugar by-products like molasses
> and furfural. Others are coffee, cocoa and tobacco. All together, these
> generated US$137.9 million in 2000, down from US$144.9 million in
> 1999.
> Exports of non-traditional products were up 12.49%, although
> agroindustrial exports dropped 11%. Mining was up 64%.
> Total exports were US$4,113.4 million, up 4.34% compared to 1999. Total
> non free zone export of goods reached US$762.9 million, up 20.39%. Free
> zone exports were up 1.26%.
>

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> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 21 March 2001
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>
>
> 5. Tender prepared for Playa Grande development
> Vice Governor of the Central Bank Luis Manuel Piantini said that the
> Central Bank is preparing a tender to sell the Playa Grande tourism
> development in the area of Rio San Juan, Maria Trinidad Sanchez
> province on the North Coast. He said the golf course that is part of
> that development is valued at US$120 million. Golfers praise this golf
> course as one of the best in the DR and the Caribbean.
> Piantini says that President Mejia favors the Central Bank divesting
> itself of property it has acquired under special circumstances that
> does not correspond to the essence of its operation. Other tourism
> potential development properties are the Montellano sugar fields and
> the Playa Dorada golf course and other facilities, in Puerto Plata.
> The Central Bank also owns the Rosario gold mine that is up for a
> tender in July.
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 19 March 2001
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>
> 2. Biodiversity Center opens in Punta Cana
> President Mejia went East to Punta Cana on Saturday, 17 March to be
> present at the formal opening of the Centro de Biodiversidad
> Universidad Cornell-Punta Cana. The center is a joint project of the
> University of Cornell and the Grupo Punta Cana (owners of tourist
> resorts and the Punta Cana International Airport). The Center is in
> charge of an ecological preserve of 10,000 tareas.
> US Congressman Charles Rangel came for the event. Also present was Ted
> Kheel of the Grupo Punta Cana Ted Kheel, who made the contact with the
> university, his own alma mater. Also attending were Minister of
> Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp and Minister of Environment
> Frank Moya Pons.
> Frank Rainieri, president of the Punta Cana Group explained that the
> center is a RD$25 million investment and has already carried out an
> inventory of the birds in the zone. It will soon have for sale a CD
> with the songs of the birds, including the second smallest bird in the
> world.
> The biodiversity center seeks to preserve the flora and fauna on the
> Punta Cana area now under intense tourism development, with 18,000
> hotel rooms, most having gone up in the past 10 years.
> Dr. Mitchell Gaynor came from the University of Cornell to give a
> conference for the occasion.
> The Center has signed an agreement with the Instituto Nacional de
> Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales for future research. The
> center will promote exchanges between scientists and scholars of the
> US and the DR. Its work seeks to make valuable contributions to the
> area ecology, the development of new medicines, the economy and
> culture.
>
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 16 March 2001
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> 5. Minister of Environment praises Presidential decision
> After remaining silent when sectors spoke up against the Presidential
> decision to develop areas of National Parks, Minister of Environment
> Frank Moya Pons answered press questions at an environmental workshop
> held in Boca Chica yesterday that was attended by President Mejia
> himself.
> Minister of Environment praised the presidential decision to request
> that the Senate put aside the bills that would modify the parks until
> the status of ownership of the properties is clarified. President
> Mejia in a letter to the Senate said that he would wait until the
> Ministry of Environment submitted a bill establishing the use of
> protected areas as is established in the Environment Law (see
> http://www.dr1.com/daily/news01501.shtml).
> The Ministry is preparing the Ley Sectorial de Areas Protegidas that
> will contain this information. Moya Pons said that to draft the bill
> they are consulting spokespeople in the communities, businessmen that
> would benefit or be affected, and the civic society.
> El Caribe newspaper points out that at the workshop, President Mejia
> disregarded the opinion of the ecologists, calling them "radicals" and
> maintained his conviction that these areas should be developed for the
> well being of the communities. "When poets talk to me, those that I
> may call ecologists living in outer space, those that are crashing in
> the stratosphere, digressing up there without landing, then I am
> concerned because one thing is what is ideal and the other what is
> possible. I am President for four years and I can't digress a lot. And
> even if I wanted or not, for reasons that be, there are two sectors
> that are the motors of the economy and these are free zones and
> tourism," said the President, as quoted in El Caribe. "I have to
> guarantee that tourists continue to visit," he stated.
>
> 6. Samana senator says he will resubmit hotel development bill
> The Senator for Samana Ramiro Espino said that if the Ministry of
> Environment takes too long to submit the bill with the ruling of
> development of protected areas, he would resubmit the bill the
> President has requested be put aside. Espino feels Moya Pons has had
> enough time to submit the bill. He backs the bill that would allow
> hotel development of the Cabo Cabron National Park, seeing it as
> beneficial for his province.
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Thursday, 15 March 2001
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> 3. President Mejia halts planned hotel development in two parks
> President Hipolito Mejia sent a letter to the Senate yesterday asking
> for time to carry out studies into the ownership of property that is
> part of two national parks and that he had segregated to allow hotel
> development. The ownership of the properties is being debated by
> interested parties in the courts.
> In a letter to the president of the Senate, Ramon Alburquerque, the
> President asks that the Senate put aside the bills that affect the
> national parks of Cabo Cabron in Samana and Del Este in La Altagracia
> province.
> Furthermore, in the letter the President justifies the decree that
> declares land within the Jaragua Natinal Park of public utility,
> saying his intention was "to accelerate the process of use of lands
> that have high tourism development potential."
> The Presidential decrees and bills regarding the use of national park
> land for tourism and sports development have met with widespread
> opposition.
> Finally, the President says that he favors a "calm revision" of the
> Environment Law that he himself passed on 18 August 2000, particularly
> the Article 34, Chapter III that establishes that this law and the
> system of protected areas it encompasses cannot be modified until
> Congress passes the Sectarian Bill for Protected Areas. This bill is
> still being drafted. The President said it would soon be sent to
> Congress.
>
> 5. US economy slowdown could be good news for hotels
> The president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association, Ramon
> Prieto says that the slowdown of the US economy could turn into good
> news for the DR hotel industry.
> He said that if the US suffers from a recession, Americans will begin
> to cut down on travel, and will prefer shorter vacations and
> destinations that are closer to home, such as the DR. "In case that
> happens, we could take advantage of the situation because we are near
> to the US and we are a low-cost destination," said Prieto.
> Prieto urged the start of an intense promotional campaign to promote
> value-packed vacations to this market that will be demanding lower
> cost travel products.
> He spoke during a press conference to announce the Dominican Annual
> Tourism Exchange (DATE), a marketplace to sell travel to the DR to US
> travel re-sellers. DATE will be held 29-31 March at Casa de Campo, La
> Romana.
>
> 9. Congress could award Higuero airport to Aerodom
> Minister of Public Works Miguel Vargas Maldonado told Hoy newspaper
> that the government is sending to Congress an addendum to the
> Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI contract to include another airport
> in Santo Domingo and another in Samana.
> Vargas said the government has concluded negotiations with Aerodom for
> the later to finish and operate the Aeropuerto la Isabela in El
> Higuero, north of Santo Domingo.
> Aerodom has the concession for the operation of Las Americas
> (Santo Domingo), Gregorio Luperon (Puerto Plata), Arroyo Barril
> (Samana) and Maria Montez (Barahona) airports.
> Aerodom wants to invest in building an airport in El Catey west of
> Samana rather than making investments in the Arroyo Barril terminal,
> as per their original contract.
>
> 10. Acting to avoid entrance of foot and mouth disease
> Sanitary authorities announced the reinforcing of the sanitary alert
> at ports and airports to avoid the entrance of the foot-and-mouth
> disease. The virus has spread to the Middle East and to Argentina. The
> UN is warning of a global threat from the disease and that no country
> could consider itself safe from the risk.
> The director of Cattleranching of the Ministry of Agriculture said
> that meat imports from everywhere but the United States have been
> banned. For more information on the virus and whom it affects, see
> http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/02/21/foot.mouth/index.html
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 14 March 2001
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> 1. More National Park lands for hotel development
> The Senate has under study a recently submitted bill that would
> exclude eight million square meters from the Parque Nacional Cabo
> Cabrón, a national park located in Samana, on the northeastern
> coastline, as per Hoy newspaper today.
> Hotel construction is banned by Environmental Law 64-00 law within
> national park areas. President Mejia passed this law two days after
> taking office. The new bill seeks to override this.
> This would be the fourth park that the Mejia administration seeks to
> mutilate. The other three are the National Park of the East, the
> Jaragua National Park (Southwest) and the Mirador del Este Park (for
> building Pan American Games sports venues).
> The use of land within the national parks for hotel development has
> met with widespread opposition from the press, environmental groups,
> and even the National Hotel & Restaurant Association. Francisco
> Jimenez Reyes, spokesman for the environment group of the Senate has
> opened the floor to discussions.

> 3. Fishing banned at Rincon Dam
> Authorities banned fishing at Rincon Dam after hundreds of trout
> appeared dead floating on the surface waters of the dam. The situation
> affects several families that live off fishing. The same situation
> occurred recently at Hatillo Dam in Cotuí. Other species are not
> affected. The Ministry of Environment is investigating the matter.
>
> 5. Navy rescues 17 tourists at sea
> The Navy rescued 17 Hungarian tourists when their small boat
> overturned while they were on a whale-watching trip two miles off the
> coast of Samana. Rear Admiral Luis Alberto Humeau Hidalgo, chief of
> the Navy, said that because the boat was not overloaded and the
> tourists heeded the requirement of using their life jackets while
> onboard, no one was injured. The tourists were rescued at sea. The
> boat overturned because of the turbulent sea.
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 13 March 2001
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> 8. Petroleum spill spots boats at Santo Domingo Yacht Club
> A spill of petroleum reached the Andrés, Boca Chica coastline spotting
> yachts parked in the Santo Domingo Yacht Club. The Navy was alerted
> and quickly went to work to remove 55 gallons of petroleum residuals,
> employing brigades of 80 men at a time.
> The petroleum stain alert coincided with the announced start of a
> course by the Navy and the Clean Caribbean Cooperative (Mobex 2001)
> that would train Dominican personnel to deal with this kind of
> emergency. This course and its exercises are sponsored by the
> Dominican Petroleum Refinery (a joint venture with Shell).
> A Navy spokesman said the stain could have reached Dominican shores
> because many times ships enter the area overloaded and discard the
> excess in order to be able to enter the Port of Santo Domingo. He also
> said that some ship captains of tankers, in violation of international
> agreements, wash their tanks in the Mona Channel prior to returning to
> Venezuela.
>

> DR1 Daily News - http://dr1.com

> DR1 Daily News -- Thursday, 8 March 2001

>
> 6. President approves improvements for Sosua
> El Siglo reports that President Hipolito Mejia met recently with a
> commission from Sosua to discuss how the government could help boost
> that community, probably the oldest tourism destination in the DR.
> Spokesmen for Sosua were Herman Strauss, president of the Compañia
> Industrial Lechera (Productos Sosua); William Kirkman, of Sea Horse
> Ranch residential community, Mayor Edmundo Brown, among others. The
> newspaper reports the President ordered the completion of the sewage
> and rain water drainage systems. Likewise the construction of
> dwellings for the occupants of the Los Tablones shacks town to go up
> behind the apartments that originally were to have lodged these
> people. Once constructed, the government distributed the dwellings to
> others, not resolving the problem of the shack town along the beach.
> Likewise, the government gave instructions for the paving of the
> westbound Carretera Sabaneta-Puerto Plata, the streets of Sosua. News
> reports indicate that 20 hotels have closed in Sosua. The closures are
> also attributed to high operational costs, lack of money to renovate,
> competition from newer all-inclusive resorts in the area, competition
> from newer resorts in other areas of the North Coast and the DR,
> vendor-packed Sosua beach, among other problems.
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 7 March 2001
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> 7. Senate not likely to pass bill for more hotels in eastern park
> Francisco Jimenez Reyes (PRD-Baoruco) says it is unlikely the Senate
> will vote favorably on the bill sent by President Hipolito Mejia
> regarding the use of National Park of the East land for hotel
> development. Ecologists, newspaper editorial writers, the National
> Hotel & Restaurant Association, and the Hotel Association of Bayahibe
> have rejected the bill. Jimenez Reyes said that nevertheless, the
> Senate would open the floor of the Senate so that the opposing and
> supporting sector could present their views on the bill. For more
> information on this bill, see
> http://www.dr1.com/daily/news030601.shtml
>
> 8. Government eco tourism project for Bahia de las Aguilas
> El Siglo newspaper reports having had access to an eco tourism project
> developed by the Ministry of Environment for the Bahia de las Aguilas
> beach area. The use of the area for hotel development has been debated
> after President Hipolito Mejia issued a decree expropriating the area
> for hotel development purposes. According to El Siglo, the Ministry of
> Environment had developed the "Marco Conceptual para el Desarrollo de
> la Zona de Uso Publico del Parque Nacional Jaragua en Bahia de las
> Aguilas," a conceptual framework for the public use of the area. This
> does not contemplate the construction of hotels. The Ministry is in
> favor that hotels be located in Oviedo, Cabo Rojo and Pedernales. From
> there tourists could make day trips to the paradise-like beach. For
> more on the government's expropriation decree, see
> http://www.dr1.com/daily/news022601.shtml The presidential decree has
> been debated because it violates stipulations in Environment Law 64-00
> signed by President Mejia himself on 18 August 2000, shortly after
> taking office.
>
> 9. Ministry of Environment rescues La Caleta Indian Park
> El Siglo reports that the National Park of La Caleta, located at the
> entrance to the Las Americas International Airport, will soon reopen.
> The Ministry has a budget for the renovation for RD$1.5 million of
> which it has already received RD$500,000 for renovation works. Work
> began in November in coordination with the Museum of Dominican Man and
> the Ministry of Culture. The park contains the largest indian cemetery
> in the country, with 36 tombs of Taino and Caribe indians, and
> includes six skeletons.
>
> 12. Club Med celebrates 50th anniversary
> Club Med invested US$36 million in a total renovation of its Punta
> Cana Club Med on the East Coast of the DR. The renovation came in time
> for the 50th anniversary of the French vacation club chain and for the
> 20th anniversary of the Punta Cana resort itself. Few visitors to the
> resort are aware that the Club Med Punta Cana was the hotel that put
> the Punta Cana-Bavaro beach hotel strip on traveler's maps. DR1's
> editorial director Dolores Vicioso and family were invited to take a
> look at what's new at the resort. A full report on the hotel's new
> facilities is featured at http://www.dr1.com/daily/clubmed2001.html

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> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 6 March 2001
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> 10. Asonahores on tourism in North Coast
> The vice president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association told
> Hoy newspaper that government and private sectors need to take urgent
> measures so that necessary investments be made to bolster the North
> Coast travel. He said that the area is affected by a major financial
> crisis, as owners of small hotels struggle to meet the present high
> interest rates costs. He said that the increasing operational costs
> are also affecting the small businessmen in the area. He said that
> reports are that the flow of travel to the area has dropped 8% when
> compared to previous years. The financial crisis has impeded some
> small hotels that depend on walk ins and individual travelers to
> upgrade and upkeep their facilities. He commented that Sosua hotels,
> where reportedly 20 have closed, are facing competition from
> all-inclusive operations that have opened in the same area. Puerto
> Plata was the first tourism destination in the DR. The area is also
> affected by internal competition from booming areas such as Punta
> Cana-Bavaro in the East Coast. Villanueva commented that the
> government sector could contribute much to improve the situation. He
> said that an attempt of the Ministry of Tourism to clean up the
> beaches of the North Coast, was met by opposition from politicians
> that alleged that the vendors that occupy beach space should be
> allowed to remain on the premises because they are "padres de familia"
> (family bread-winners). He said that Minister of Armed Forces Jose
> Miguel Soto Jimenez has instructed Tourism Police agents to proceed as
> necessary seeking the improvement of the beaches. Also affecting the
> area is internal politics and particular interests of municipal
> sectors that have impeded the start of a World Bank project that would
> build new infrastructure in the area. To assist small hotel owners,
> Villanueva said that Minister of Tourism Ramon Alfredo Bordas has
> given instructions so that small hotels can participate as a group, at
> no cost or a very small cost, in international promotional fairs.
>
> 11. Hotel Association against building hotels in National Park of the
> East
> The National Hotel & Restaurant Association says that its official
> position is to reject the construction of hotels at the limits of the
> National Park of the East. President Mejia had authorized this by
> decree, and later by a bill sent to Congress. As reported in El Siglo
> newspaper, Asonahores said that the parks should be used to promote
> sustainable tourism development, but does not favor developing any
> area of the National Park of the East. Asonahores says there are
> plenty of beach areas available for development. It mentions Playa
> Grande in the North Coast and Los Corbanitos in the Southwest, both
> government owned. The same article quotes Arlette Pichardo, director
> of the environmental office, Pronatura, as rejecting the bill that is
> at present in the Senate. Pichardo worked for years with the
> International Center of Economic Policy of Costa Rica, prior to her
> job with Pronatura. She highlighted the importance of competing with
> high quality services. "If we use our resources unwisely, within five
> or ten years we are not going to receive any travelers. We have to be
> clear about what are the ties that have to be established between the
> development of natural resources, preservation and the care of these
> resources and tourism development," she said. She says that travelers
> seek natural clean spaces and that to compete the country must offer
> high quality services. "Within this framework is how tourism should be
> understood," she said. "Travelers are not going to come because we
> open mega projects on our beaches; travelers coming for sun and beach
> seek clean natural spaces, not mass development."
Received on Tue Mar 27 19:03:13 2001