Dominican hoteliers join forces to boost tourism in Puerto Plata
Puerto Plata.– Puerto Plata, the most important city in Dominican Republic’s north coast owns countless tourist attractions and sites of great historic and cultural value that should be taken better advantage of and put to better use. For this purpose, the Associations of Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Business of Puerto Plata (Ashonorte), the Playa Dorada Hotel, Condominium and Commercial Establishment Owners Association (AHPD) and the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Sosua and Cabarete (Ashoresoca) have joined forces and signed a strategic alliance. According to the document, the alliance will set in motion a plan to promote Puerto Plata as a tourist destination and will stimulate the creation of new businesses and complementary offers and will cooperate with the city´s Historic Center Office in its tasks of remodeling, beautifying and revitalizing this cultural and commercial area.
The Dominican Flag
The World’s Most Beautiful Flag Contest, an unofficial competition created by a user on 20minutos.es, has received hundreds of thousands of votes since it began in the beginning of June.
The contest began with 104 flags, eliminating the five flags with the least votes every two days. The competition is coming to an end and is now in its final stage. The last week of voting has begun and users across the world are chossing their favorite flags.
The final ten flags remaining are Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala and Puerto Rico.
Dominican Republic’s white and blue flag has been in the top ten almost the entire contest and many Dominicans are eager to see it win. It is currently ranked number four with almost 54,000 points. Mexico is ranked number one with nearly 193,000 points.
To vote for the world’s most beautiful flag, go to http://listas.20minutos.es.
Minister of Tourism lists new projects for next 4 years
Tourism industry projections for the next four years are framed within the National Integral Tourism Development Plan, drafted in 2000, and includes more spending on infrastructure, a diversified offer and the entrance of more visitors and income for the country.
Tourism minister Felix Jiménez said the plan is concentrated in bolstering the Dominican tourism competitiveness, follow-up to infrastructure investment in tourism zones, including highways, sanitary systems, revamping, road signs, improved security services, salubrity indices, more training and advertising abroad and the Congress to approve the law that creates the National Tourism Development Institute (Indetur).
Jiménez said the goal is to get five million tourists to come to Dominican Republic by 2012, 4.4 million of those international visitors; for the economy to generate more than five billion dollars annually from tourism and to guarantee 8 billion dollars in hotel and real estate investments.
He said infrastructure investments will be carried out around the country. “The plan we pursue is to turn Dominican Republic into an integral tourism destination, which aren’t just the beach enclaves.”
Jiménez said tourist roads will be built to link the mountain towns Monción, San Jose de las Matas, Jánico, Juncalito, Jarabacoa, Constanza and Ocoa, a plan which includes inns designed and remodel inns and hotels, such as Jarabacoa’s Cabañas Ercilia Pepín and Hotel Montaña, San José de las Matas’ La Mansion, and Constanza’s Nueva Suiza.
As for cultural tourism, the official said work is also being done in the street lighting of Santo Domingo’s Colonial monuments. “We’re driving a development program that goes beyond what’s been
Election Day, Friday, May 16- Public Holiday
To make it easier for Dominicans to vote the government declared a holiday from noon Thursday to 6 a.m. Saturday, a decision contained in decree 193-08 published Wednesday by the Presidency’s Press Office.
This measure excludes public service agencis such as firefighters, hospitals, transport and others which provide continuous service.
Thousands of people will travel to their hometowns to vote May 16, because they have to cast their ballots in their registered residence.
