During the forum “Capital, Trust and Growth: Banking and Tourism”, the Association of Multiple Banks (ABA) and the National Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores) recognized the work of the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, who took the opportunity to highlight the growth of the sector in the last four years.
During the recognition, it was highlighted how Collado’s management energizes the national economy in this sector, promoting its growth, strengthening investor confidence and promoting well-being and development initiatives.
Highlighting that its management consolidates the country as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the region, the executive president of ABA, Rosanna Ruiz, declared that this stability is the foundation on which the trust of investors has been established, allowing the development of large-scale projects, attracting long-term capital and consolidating a tourism industry.
He estimated that, definitely, this participation is not simply statistics. “It is the testimony of an industry that not only generates wealth, but distributes it, that opens doors where they have historically been closed and that contributes in a real way to social mobility,” said Ruiz.
As proof, the arrival of more than three million tourists in the first quarter of 2026 was mentioned, the increase in visitors month after month, the generation of jobs and the contribution in added value to the gross domestic product, which represent the growth and development of national tourism together with Dominican banking as a key alliance for its amplification and diversification.
Sector growth
In the words of the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, this pact between the public and private sectors played an important role during the pandemic, achieving significant increases in hotel rooms, going from 10 thousand to 85 thousand, a 10% growth that by default increases hotel occupancy to 90% and the number of monthly visitors.
Minister David Collado when he spoke at the activity organized by the ABA and Asonahores.
Regarding monthly income, Collado mentioned that “at that time we only had income of about 800 million dollars projected in one year. Now we are receiving more than 11,000 million dollars a year from tourism, which helps maintain exchange stability.”
And although he noted that there was “luck in the recovery of tourism,” strategies with a decisive impact to mark this upward trend in his management were creating a public-private marketing committee for transparency in promotional investment, reducing promotional expenses, strengthening the country brand, promotion through different digital platforms and knowing the profile of visitors through segmentation marketing.
Infrastructure development
With the vision of consolidating the Dominican Republic beyond beach tourism and expanding it to an orange economy, the official also stated that they focused on strengthening infrastructure and public spaces with a comprehensive vision in the recovery of beaches, including places for vendors, their financing and training for the start-up of their businesses.
To this he added the recovery of boardwalks in provinces such as Santo Domingo, San Pedro de Macorís, La Romana, Samaná, among others, along with the remodeling of some national parks.
Among those invited to the Forum are businessmen Samir Rizek, José Miguel and Ligia Bonetti, Juan Vicini, Adan Matos, José Miguel Cuadra and journalists Aníbal de Castro and Miguel Franjul, directors of Diario Libre and Listín Diario.
“Tourism was not simply about strengthening large hotel chains and generating wealth. There is nothing wrong with it and that is what we believe in and that is what we promote. But we did understand that tourism had to have a 360 orange economy and could not be exclusive so as not to generate a feeling of marginality,” he stressed.
Likewise, the other authorities participating in the forum agreed that this sector has become a transversal axis of the Dominican economy, with a proven capacity to boost different productive activities and generate development opportunities throughout the national territory.
