Punta Cana.- The Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) has approximately $100 million in funds, which management has saved, and which they use for the international promotion of the country.
The information was provided by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, who emphasized that he is working with efficiency, transparency, and there is not a single decision that the Marketing Committee has made unanimously together with the private sector.
He emphasized that in promoting the country as a tourist destination they have been able to save more than RD$7.5 billion, according to Acento.
“We are taking this country to levels it has never reached by saving funds, and I can say that we almost have $100 million saved in the Mitur dollar account. I have never had a balance of this nature,” he expressed.
During the presentation of the tourism statistics for the month of September, Collado stated that they have saved every penny, since “there is a generation observing the behavior of the Ministry of Tourism in the administration of public funds.”
“They are funds from national promotion and are part of the savings that the Ministry of Tourism has, and they continue working with that. They are in the background where the public-private Marketing Committee is, and there we are making the investments, but the truth is that we have spent much less than what was being spent before,” he added.
He explained that as part of the strategies they have more presence in the different countries and cities important to tourism in the Dominican Republic, they have dedicated more time to digital platforms, they have direct contact with tour operators, tour guides, travel agents, and they have performed 50 road shows.
“I have personally gone to 50 cities or countries to present the Dominican Republic, and in some destinations that are extremely important like New York, I have already gone three times (…) fifty trips in three years, if you calculate that is thirty-six months, so I have traveled by the month more than once. There is an important fact, I do not use per diem from the Ministry of Tourism, nor hotel rooms, nor pay for air transportation, and I have done this since I was a deputy, nor as mayor of the city of Santo Domingo. I have never accepted travel expenses from the Dominican State, I do this as a contribution with humility, but I never thought I would become Minister of Tourism,” Collado stated.
