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The president of the Board of Directors of Karisma Hotels & Resorts, Rafael Feliz Germán, raised the need for the Dominican Republic to dedicate itself to working on the issues of urban territorial planning and tourist destinations, basic technical training of the hotel workforce and increasing the volumes of flights to the territory as three of the main challenges to increase investments and ensure the growth of the travel and tourism industry.
The president of the Board of Directors of Karisma Hotels & Resorts analyzed the opportunities and advantages of the country as a tourist destination by participating in the panel “Dominican Republic as an investment destination: key factors and competitiveness” within the Asonahores Tourism Investment Forum together with Abel Matutes Prats, president of Palladium Hotel Group and Jacqueline Mora vice Minister of Tourism under the moderation of Javier Tejada, general director of United Capital.
Highlights the favorable conditions of the Dominican Republic for tourism investment
Germán explained that every investor looks for stability in destinations, countries that have tourism demand, a geographical location that allows a pleasant climate most of the time possible, with good air connectivity to the main issuing markets, sources of financing and access to capital.
He assured that in the case of the Dominican Republic it has all these conditions, to which are added other additional aspects such as the government's support for tourism and its investment in international promotion, the latter element that he defined as “very important.”
Understands that the Dominican Republic has made great progress in eliminating bureaucracy to obtain the different official permits required for the development of hotels.
He said that those who have invested in Mexico know what it costs to obtain a construction permit there, which can last up to two years, the same as in Europe.
The unmatched human quality of the Dominican workforce
For the president of the Board of Directors of Karisma Hotels & Resorts, yes, the Dominican Republic may not have the most efficient workforce in the region, it does have the “kindest, most friendly and pleasant workforce, the most beautiful smile that can be be expected”.
“If what we (hoteliers) dedicate ourselves to is providing unique and different experiences to our clients, the workforce represents 80% of that. Without that it is impossible to achieve it. And that is something that we have here on every corner, it is normal, apart from the beauties that the country has,” said Feliz Germán.
Other positive conditions that he highlighted that the Dominican Republic has are the safety of the destination compared to other competitors such as Mexico or Jamaica and the road infrastructure available in the different tourist regions of the country, superior to that of the Caribbean islands.
The three challenges of the Dominican Republic to continue growing in tourism
When focusing on the elements on which the Dominican Republic should work to achieve the proposed growth of the tourism industry, Feliz Germán said that the country has to work more on the training of the hotel workforce in addition to language issues in the technical aspects if we want to grow at the speed proposed by both the State and the private sector.
“We need to technically prepare the workforce. And no, we receive them in the raw hotels and then prepare them ourselves because that also affects the customer experience,” said Feliz Germán.
Regarding territorial planning, he considered that the country must work on an urban territorial planning plan and territorial planning of destinations, topics on which, although he did not elaborate, he said that they cannot be confused.
He returned to the example presented during the panel on the territorial planning achieved in Mexico in the Riviera Maya that involves Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum and the entire corridor, explaining that if in the Dominican Republic one wanted to compare one would have to work from Casa de Campo, Punta Cana, Bávaro and Miches.
“I think we should work on an urban planning plan and a tourist planning plan that cannot be confused since they are two totally different things,” Feliz Germán reiterated.
The third element to which he drew attention is that of air connection, considering that what must be achieved from now on is to increase the arrival of new flights.
“We already have connectivity. I believe that we are the best connected country in Latin America with five international airports. It is a matter of being able to attract more flights, more volumes and that can only be achieved by generating incentives for airlines and with tourism promotion.
