Every time Frank Rainieri speaks the country pays attention. Well, he is considered the “Father of tourism in the Dominican Republic.”
His vision of Punta Cana has made that destination the country's calling card internationally. And through the airport that it manages, more than four million tourists arrive each year to stay in the more than 40 thousand hotel rooms that that area has.
For this opportunity, Frank Rainieri projected that in a few years, the Dominican Republic will completely be a tourist destination, and that, by 2035, the goal will be 17 million tourists.
In a few years the entire country will be a tourist destination. Achieving this has not been easy, and staying at the top will require a lot of vision, work and support from the different sectors of national life.
Frank Rainieri
During his participation as a guest speaker at a breakfast conference of the Archbishopric of Santo Domingo, he explained that the beginning of tourism in the 70s was slow because it was a little-known activity, but it gained space.
The past president of Puntacana Group cited the historian Frank Moya Pons, who in his analysis of the country's evolution in the period 1963-2013 stated that “tourism has become the main generator of foreign exchange and one of the most powerful factors of change that the country has had. country throughout its history.
He considered that this assessment of Moya Pons in 2013 “remained in history, and since then the growth has been unstoppable, even with global crises such as COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza.”
Rainieri defined tourism as “a social, cultural and economic phenomenon that has generated a multi-billion dollar global industry.”
See also: Frank: Goal of 10 million tourists makes us leaders in the Caribbean
He stated that the joint work of the hotel sector, the Ministry of Tourism and President Luis Abinader, plus the support of the Verón-Punta Cana community, have achieved double-digit growth in the Punta Cana area and its almost 50,000 hotel rooms generate between 14 and 16% of the country's gross domestic product, 93,000 direct jobs and approximately 323,000 indirect jobs.
Rainieri highlighted that 2024 will arrive with 50,000 rooms in the Punta Cana-Miches area; with Bayahíbe and La Romana as consolidated destinations; In the north, Puerto Plata with two Cruise terminals and the tourist real estate project in Bergatín, and Cabarete continues to grow.
In the northeast, he highlighted that Samaná will soon have two cruise ports and the northern part of the peninsula is increasing the number of rooms.
He assures that in the south, Pedernales will be on the tourism world map in the coming years. He indicated that in Baní the development of Puntarena and other projects continues, and in Barahona a cruise terminal is being built.
In Santiago, Jarabacoa and Constanza, he said, “important tourist niches are beginning to be created, and the city of Santo Domingo, in the process of renovation, will become a great tourist destination.”
See more: Frank Rainieri, named Ambassador of Sustainable Tourism
