In a meeting held at the facilities of the National School of Migration of the National Institute of Migration (INM RD), the report Labor market and foreign labor in the tourism sector in the Dominican Republic was presented. The study, part of the Measurement Program
Periodic Demand for Foreign Labor designed by the INM RD, was developed in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (OIM), according to the information provided.
The event was attended by leaders of the tourism sector and migration governance authorities, including Wilfredo Lozano, executive director of INM RD; Josué Gastelbondo, IOM chief of mission; Carlos Peguero, Vice Minister of Tourism for International Cooperation and Executive Director of the Pedernales Tourism Development Project; Rubén Arturo Silié Valdez, Vice Minister of Multilateral Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Julian Matthew, Vice Minister of Inspection of the Ministry of Labor; Ely Encarnación, deputy director of the General Directorate of Migration; Manuel Robles, Director of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD), and Simón Suárez, Vice President of Institutional Relations and Projects of the Grupo Puntacana Foundation.
Lozano explained that the program consists of three phases of implementation. The first phase involves dialogues with experts, businessmen, the government sector and key stakeholders. The second phase includes pilot research with qualitative studies that support the third phase, which involves quantitative studies to measure foreign labor in the country.
For his part, Gastelbondo praised the initiative as a valuable tool to address the migratory reality in the tourism sector. He highlighted the importance of generating a measurement system for labor demand in various productive sectors as a way of defining good migration policies that mark the development of the country, something that is linked to the objectives of Law 01-12 of the National Development Strategy.
In this sense, Peguero, the Vice Minister of Tourism, emphasized the relevance of accurate data and the fundamental role it plays in the growth of the sector, applauded the work of INM RD and emphasized that his ministry works based on data, which It has contributed to the success of the current administration. “Personal decisions have been stopped, but on the basis of accurate data. It has become the tourist intelligence center, which tells us where we are going and this document has come to strengthen this purpose”.
The study yielded significant findings that allow evaluating the behavior of immigrant populations in the tourism sector, which has a direct, indirect and induced impact on the Dominican economy. Through services such as accommodation, transportation, hotels, restaurants, and shops, it has a direct impact. Indirectly, it contributes through investments and purchases from suppliers, and in an induced manner, it contributes to consumption in food, housing and services, generating a chain of benefited companies.
In terms of profile, the majority of migrant workers in the tourism sector belong to the age group of 24 to 39 years and are male. However, in self-employment, which tends to be more informal, a greater presence of women was identified. The pandemic marked a turning point in the stability of human resources in the sector, since many workers did not return after the restrictions, which led to a high turnover of personnel, especially in the three tourist poles of the study.
Among the results, it is also highlighted that the majority of foreign workers come from Haiti, followed by Venezuela, the United States, Spain, Canada and Italy. Likewise, the report also stresses the need for a migration policy that promotes orderly and documented migration, contributing to the development of the country.
The meeting reinforced the importance of cooperation between the business community and the government sector to obtain accurate information that supports strategic decision-making. The report, which is presented as part of an ongoing effort, seeks to fill a gap in economic measurement and provide a regional look at the presence of foreign workers in the tourism sector.