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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tourist arrivals climb 7.7% in October

Santo Domingo,- Nonresident tourist arrivals to Dominican Republic climbed 7.7% in October, according to a report by the Central Bank, which specifies that there were 17,866 more visitors compared with the same 2009 period.

It said the growth of the tourist flow during the January-October 2010 results from the arrival of more nonresident foreigners, or 17,205 additional tourists, “which means a variation of 9.05% compared with the same month last year, whereas nonresident Dominicans showed an increase of 1.68%.”

As to the first 10 months this year, 3,799,871 passengers arrived, or 4.26% more than the 3,644,679 which arrived in the same 2009 period.

Source: Dominican Today 
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Join Green & Black's® Organic Chocolate in the Dominican Republic

Green & Black's® Organic Chocolate, a global organic and Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate brand, announced its first ever Global Ambassador program.  The program will send ten Americans and U.K. residents on a 14 day expedition in the depths of the Dominican Republic.  Successful applicants from both the U.S. and U.K. will serve as Global Ambassadors on behalf of Green & Black's Organic Chocolate and will become an integral part of a local cocoa farming community in the Dominican Republic.  While there, Ambassadors will help build a gravity-fed water system to ensure that the residents of the community have consistent access to fresh, drinkable water. 

Qualifying Green & Black's Global Ambassadors will be those who have made a difference in their own local communities and are interested in expanding their aid to help Green & Black's improve the Dominican cocoa farming community.  From November 19, 2010 through January 3, 2011, interested individuals can visit the Green & Black's U.S. Facebook page (www.facebook.com/GreenandBlacks.US) to complete two essay questions and submit a picture showcasing support for their local cause.  Winners will be announced January 21, 2011 and the Dominican Republic experience will take place from March 26, 2011 to April 9, 2011.  Additionally, each of the winning applicants will receive $1,000 for a local-community building cause of their choice.

"Green & Black's is a Fair Trade Certified brand dedicated to empowering our cocoa growing partners to establish sustainable livelihoods and communities through agricultural and social programs," said Nicole McLaughlin, Marketing Director, U.S. Chocolate, Kraft Foods.  "Our goal is to find likeminded people who are not only dedicated to helping their own local communities, but communities across the globe.  The work they'll do and the impact they'll make will be an experience the Ambassadors and the Dominican cocoa farming community will never forget."

Source: PR Newswire

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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Ex-Dominican President Jorge Blanco in Serious Condition After Fall

Former Dominican Republic President Jorge Blanco is in grave condition at a capital clinic after falling and hitting his head, his son, the politician Orlando Jorge Mera, said Saturday.

The ex-president, 85, who governed the nation between 1982 and 1986, fell before dawn Saturday at his home and was taken in a state of coma to a clinic where he underwent surgery, his son told reporters.

“The situation is extremely grave,” Jorge Mera, secretary-general of the opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party, or PRD, to which Jorge Blanco belongs, said.

Jorge Mera said that his father “is fighting against death” at the intensive care unit of the Abel Gonzalez Clinic in the Dominican capital.

In 2007, Jorge Blanco was implanted with a valve to correct his walking difficulties caused by the hydrocephaly, or water on the brain, that he was suffering.

In addition, in 2005 the ex-Dominican president was admitted as an emergency patient due to heart problems.

Jorge Blanco was sentenced in Nov. 1987 to 20 years in prison and the payment of millions in fines for illicit enrichment while he was in office.

However, during the government of Hipolito Mejia (2000-2004), also of the PRD, Jorge Blanco was declared “not guilty” by the court, after the president in the name of the Dominican government dropped the accusations against the former head of state.

Source: Latin American Herald Tribune

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USAID helps farmers grow oregano ecologically

MONTE PLATA, Dominican Republic.- Aimed at improving the standard of living of rural families, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spurred the establishment of 60 farms to grow oregano ecologically associated with citruses, in 8 communities of eastern Monte Plata province.

By implementing this project the USAID, in coordination with the Dominican Union of Alternative Training Schools (UDEFA) installed a green oregano distillery to extract oil, with which the 60 beneficiary growers will diversify their crops and access new markets.

The initiative, which integrated 20 farms of 10 tareas each planted with oregano and citruses, while 40 farms of 5 tareas each are in the process of forming a cooperative to jointly manage their crops, cost RD$5.6 million, with the USAID contributing 2.5 million and the rest were matching funds from the associates.
The project was developed in the towns Yamasá, Bayaguana and Sabana Grande de Boya, in one of the country’s poorest provinces.

USAID interim director James Watson said the project incorporated technologies and environment-friendly practices in the farming processes. “The USAID’s main support is to help Dominican Republic to reduce poverty and I believe that when obtaining new markets you will be able to gradually have better living conditions, and at the same time create jobs and productivity in the field.”

Source: Dominican Today

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Feud killing pits two SW towns, sparks violent protests

BARAHONA, Dominican Republic. - Police and troops patrol the dusty streets of the southwest towns Cabral and Cachón to prevent incidents sparked by the death an agronomist, gunned down Wednesday by a son a retired Police colonel.

The Police and troops were deployed in the streets of both Barahona province towns after the death of Fernelis Gomez Feliz, 51, by Roderqui Cuevas, 35, who fled the scene, and which unleashed violent protests in Cabral, torching tires blocking streets and hurling bottles and other objects.

Early Wednesday a group of people from Cabral went to the elementary school looking for students from Cachón, and pelted Cabral’s Police post with stones, a Police source said, with no injuries reported. Although Cabral and Cachón remain calm, normal activities are practically paralyzed.

The alleged killer is a son of the Police colonel Rafael Cuevas, and who allegedly had a long standing feud with his victim.

Source: Dominican Today

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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Barkhausen takes Dominican Republic Go-Kart Championship

Dominican Republic’s Go-Kart Championship season concluded last Saturday in Santo Domingo’s Kartodromo go-kart track under harsh weather, but the rains didn’t slow the drivers of the Barkhausen Racing Team, which again took the 1st Place crown.

Twelve year-old racer Diego Barkhausen again bolted from the pole position and sped to first place in both races in the Minimax Category, a victory that secures him the 2010 Rotax Max MiniMax Championship in the category for racers from 8 to 12 hears of age.

The win makes Barkhausen the only competitor with two straight 1st place finishes in the Dominican MiniMax championship in more than three years.

Source: Dominican Today

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Blast at hospital in the Dominican Republic kills at least 9

VILLA MELLA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (BNO NEWS) — An explosion and resulting fire at a hospital in the central Dominican Republic left at least nine people killed on Wednesday, the El Nuevo Diario newspaper reported on Thursday.

The explosion, believed to have been caused by a problem with electricity supply cables, happened at the Ney Arias Lora Hospital in Villa Mella. The blast and a resulting fire killed nine people and left several others injured.

Rescue teams and paramedics were rushed to the scene and so far recovered two bodies. Firefighters are still trying to get the blaze under control.

Rescue workers were able to rescue a female engineer alive but she later died due to the severity of the carbon monoxide intoxication as a result of the smoke she inhaled.

The hospital belongs to the Public Health Ministry and is located in Villa Mella, a municipality about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Dominican capital city of Santo Domingo. The building was to be used as the headquarters for a government-sponsored program to sell medicines at a lower price.

Source: Island Crisis

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Dominicans demand more money for public schools

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Hundreds of protesters clutching yellow umbrellas are demanding the Dominican Republic spend more on public education.

The government spends only 2 percent of GDP on schools although the law requires 4 percent. The law was approved in 1997, but no administration has complied with it.

Teachers union president Radhames Camacho said Friday that just 39 percent of the country's 11,091 public primary schools have a library and only 61 percent have safe drinking water. Camacho was among the protesters holding umbrellas printed with the message: "4 percent for education."

President Leonel Fernandez has said he doesn't plan to boost spending. He says he sees no direct link between money spent and school performance.

Source: Washington Post

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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Dominican Republic Jazz Fest starts today

The organizing committee for the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival has sent the following calendar for the event starting today, November 25, to conclude the 27th.

VIP Passes to the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival in Santiago can be bought by contacting David Zinaman at 829-962-8828.  On the North Coast, please contact Jennifer Kirkman at 809-850-1234.

The Sea Horse Ranch office will also have them available as well as the evening of the performance (please bring exact change).

Each pass is $150 dollars, $50 of which will go directly to the Fundacion Educativa DR Jazz Festival.  The pass is good for all three days of the event and includes admission for Santiago and special VIP seating with complimentary drinks in Cabarete.

Whether you buy a VIP Pass or not, please come out and support the Festival and please forward this email. 

Source: Dominican Today

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Viva Residence Samana: confidence in real estate tourism

Viva Residence Las Terrenas unveiled its first units of the models in a preopening celebration where Viva Resorts Group Vice president Rafael Blanco (Papo) said shows confidence in the advance of tourism development in the country’s northeastern region.


The US$20 million investment in Viva Residence, located in the picturesque bay of Cosón, makes it the group’s second real estate tourism  development, joining Viva Residence’s Bahía Estela, located just steps away from the white sand beach project Viva Residence Las Terrenas.

Blanco showed reporters the first model villas and apartments and infrastructure including the swimming pool which winds through he project internally .

The beachfront real estate development boasts a design by the famed architect Antonio Imbert, with 76 apartments and villas.

Source: Dominican Today

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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Money woes hobbles Dominican Republic Census

In a repeat of previous debacles with the census, the talliers hired to conduct this decade’s population and housing count slated to begin at 8 .a.m. today haven’t hit the streets claiming they’ve yet to be paid.

The impasse prompted Statistics Office (ONE) director Pablo Tactuk to convene a meeting of the Census Advisory Committee to analyze the situation that threatens the highly promoted count.

News source eldia.com.do reports most residents in several barrios including Cristo Rey, Simon Bolivar, Las Cañitas and Villa Carmen await to be counted, but the census takers are nowhere to be seen. It quoted El Dique Neighborhood Board president Jorge Hernandez, who said that in the barrio Los Guandules “the Census, by this time, is a failure.”

Some people trained as supervisors said they have yet to be paid and refuse to work.

Eldia.com.do adds that ONE’s sent a letter to the Presidency requesting an additional RD$565 million to conduct the Census, but the money hasn’t been disbursed. 

Source: Dominican Today

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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

World Bank US$150M to boost Dominican Republic’s health, education

The World Bank Board of Directors on Tuesday approved a US$150 million loan to fund social protection areas, mostly education and health in the Dominican Republic.

The disbursement of the funds seeks to expand the human capital and improve the transparency and quality of public spending, a statement by the World Bank said.

The organization affirms that the funds will be used to support social policies through the Government’s Social Cabinet, to guarantee, the access to education, health and nutrition for more than 600,000 poor homes via the program Solidarity.

The document says the World Bank recognizes the Solidarity program advances in the transformation process now integrated within other social programs. It says the efforts of the Social Cabinet and the ministries of Health and Education are focused in the topics of improving human capital and narrowing the gap between the supply and demand in education, health and nutrition.

The World Bank cites Treasury minister Vicente Bengoa as saying that the disbursement is included in the Budget passed by Congress and that it will help close the fiscal year satisfactorily.

This is the second transaction in a package of three Loans on Performance by Results and the Rendering of Accounts in the Social Sectors, and stipulated in the World Bank’s Strategic Alliance with the country for the 2010-2013 period.

Source: Dominican Today

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Monday, November 22, 2010

Puntacana Resort & Club honoured as Golf's top resort

Puntacana Resort & Club, the exclusive resort property in the Dominican Republic, has been named Golf Resort of the Year by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators in the 'Rest of the World' category.

Puntacana Resort & Club is currently home to two world class golf courses, P.B, Dye's La Cana and Tom Fazio's Corales, with a third, Hacienda, set to open in 2011. The P.B. Dye-designed La Cana Golf Course, which opened in 2001, has long been a firm favorite of golfers from all over the world and, in line with PCRC's efforts to be as environmentally friendly as possible, was the first course in the Caribbean to use paspalum, a grass seed that can be watered using sea water.

In April 2010, the highly anticipated Tom Fazio-designed Corales course opened to rave reviews with Golf Week's Brad Klein naming the course "The future of Caribbean golf." With the addition of Hacienda, the resort will offer 54 holes of championship golf to guests of the resort. The combination of the three courses, along with the many other amenities available to guests, makes Puntacana Resort & Club the Caribbean's premier golf and beach destination.

"Golf at Puntacana Resort & Club is truly a unique experience." said Jay Overton, director of golf and club operations at Corales. "When the opportunity presented itself to be able to head Corales I came out of retirement knowing that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of a truly remarkable project."
"We work very hard to offer our guests world-class golf and accommodations that are easily accessible via direct non-stop flights from many of the world's major airports, and we are so honored to be recognized for our efforts by the IAGTO," said Jeff Neal, Director of La Cana/Hacienda Golf & Beach Club.

Over 2,000 golf resorts from around the world were considered for this award category and were judged based on customer satisfaction, quality of golf course and accommodation, value for money, accessibility to tee times as well as speed of communication and quality of service of the golf resort sales and marketing team.
"We are very proud of our golf offerings here at Puntacana, and we are constantly working to better the experience for those who come spend time with us," said Frank Rainieri, Puntacana Resort & Club CEO and co-founder. "We are humbled by the recognition as the best golf destination, and will continue to improve our offerings to live up to this title."

The IAGTO Awards were established in 2000 to reward to recognize those exceptional resorts in the world of golf travel.

Source: World Golf

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Ice cream sales in Dominican Republic help improve conditions for rare songbird

Canadian vacationers in the Dominican Republic can help improve conditions for the Bicknell's thrush, a rare songbird, says the conservation group Bird Studies Canada, based in Port Rowan, Ont. There's no hardship involved — all they have to do is order some "choco maple" at an ice cream shop.

A portion of proceeds from sales will be used to protect habitat of the bird, which breeds in Eastern Canada and the U.S. and winters in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Populations have plunged by 15 per cent annually in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in recent years, experts say.

Ice cream company Helados Bon launched the flavour this month at the Museum of Natural History in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, during a meeting of the International Bicknell's Thrush Conservation Group, an alliance of scientists and conservationists.

"The flavour captures elements from the thrush's breeding and wintering ranges, and the chocolate is organic," says Bird Studies Canada, which is part of the international group. "It supports a great cause, and it's delicious."

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

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Friday, November 19, 2010

Chucho Valdes to perform at Dominican Republic Jazz Festival

The 11th Dominican Republic Jazz Festival 2010, to take place in Santiago and Cabarete Beach in Puerto Plata, will feature a free concert by Chucho Valdes & Afro-Cuban Messengers.

The event will open on 25 November at Centro Leon in Santiago with a jazz workshop, but the formal opening is scheduled for 8:30 pm with Dominican Miguel Andres Tejada Trio and Puerto Rico-USA's John Benitez Quintet.

The festival also includes performances by Sandy Gabriel Group (Dominican Republic) and Danilo Perez Trio (Panama).

Source: Dominican Today

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Big business leader hails power plant’s conversions to natural gas

he head of the organization that groups Dominican Republic’s business leaders (Copardom) called the planned construction of a gas pipeline to convert the plant of the San Pedro power company CESPM, formerly Cogentrix to natural gas, “a significant step.”

Marisol Vicens said the initiative, jointly with the push to penalize energy theft is a first step in the process to transform the State’s power sector, in adherence to the legislation on electricity and the Public Company Reform Law.

The CESPM plant’s conversion to natural gas forms part of the State-owned Power Companies’ (CDEEE) goal for 2011, of producing 50% of the energy with that fuel.

The business leader issued those declarations to the being interviewed in Hoy Mismo Channel 9, affirmed that CDEEE CEO Celso Marranzini has instilled  credibility and confidence in the sector, among the electricity market’s agents as well as international agencies. She said Marranzini also lowered costs and bureaucracy, reaching more efficiency in the distributing companies, as well as implementing efficient and organized payment formulas.

Source: Dominican Today

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Dominican Army hosts continental conference

The Army of the Dominican Republic is hosting the Specialized Conference on Assistance in Disaster Operations of the 29th cycle of Conferences of American Armies (CEA), with the participation of 20 member States and five observant countries.

Peru, Dominican Republic, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela are the member nations taking part in the conference from yesterday and until tomorrow in the Jaragua Hotel, where Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Suriname are the observant countries.

The CEA was created in 1960 by Army commanders of the three Americas, to interchange ideas and discuss diverse issues of joint interest among the continent’s ground forces.

It also seeks collaboration and integration of the armies, contributing with classroom and field exercises on peacekeeping and disaster response operations, aimed at consolidating military security and democratic development.

Source: Dominican Today

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Odebrecht Energy's big gas plans for the Dominican Republic

The Brazilian construction company Odebrecht Energy has said it is exploring the feasibility of developing new natural gas fired power projects in the Dominican Republic.

Luiz Gabriel Todt, director of Odebrecht Energy, announced that it is currently in discussions with the Dominican government, regarding the connection of the proposed power station with the country’s national electrical system, according to a report in the Hoy newspaper.

One project under consideration could generate carbon credits or bonds for the Dominican Republic - incentives to reduce polluting emissions.

According to the news report, 26 per cent of electricity production in the Dominican Republic comes from the natural gas.

A report by Aes Group Dominica said it is estimated that gas fired capacity will rise to 33 per cent of total generation in next the two years.

Source: Powergen Worldwide

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Dominican comedian Freddy Beras Goico dies at 69

Freddy Beras Goico, an actor and comedian considered the most influential television figure in his native Dominican Republic, died Thursday in New York. He was 69.

Beras died at Mount Sinai Medical Center from complications of pancreatic cancer, according to Giancarlo Beras, his son.

Beras was hospitalized in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 2 and flown to New York two days later. He underwent surgery at Mount Sinai earlier this year.

His death prompted an outpouring of grief in his homeland and among Dominican communities in the United States.

President Leonel Fernandez praised him as a mediator of the country's political and social conflicts with his broadcasting and philanthropy.

"He appealed with energy and integrity for the construction of a better society," Fernandez said.

Beras began his television career as a cameraman in the early 1960s and went on to host a weekly variety show that aired for 30 years, featuring some of the most famous musicians of the Dominican Republic and Latin America. He also regularly appeared on other programs and nightclubs and created a charitable foundation.

Beras, whose family fled to Colombia during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, was also a political activist in the 1950s and 1960s and was jailed in 1965 for taking part with Gen. Francisco Alberto Caamano in a war to re-establish the democratic government of Juan Bosc.

He later became a critic of the late strongman Joaquin Balaguer, who held power off and on for 24 years until 1996.

Beras' body was scheduled to be transported back to his homeland Friday for a funeral.

Source: AP

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Lunch to help build church in the Dominican Republic

Petrolia's St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church is having a benefit soup and sandwich lunch on Sunday, Nov. 21, from noon to 2 p.m.

All proceeds from a freewill offering will buy supplies to build a church in Haina, the Dominican Republic.

Woodside Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania has sent a team to the Dominican Republic the past two summers and hopes to complete the project in the next two to three years. The majority of the build occurs when a large group arrives in June each year.

Haina's Pastor Bronny Novas and his volunteers team up with the group from Woodside for a building blitz. Work could continue throughout the year if funds were available to purchase building materials. Pastor Novas currently holds worship services in a rented building each week.

Members of Project Santiago have been going to the area the past six years to build homes for impoverished families. This year, the group will also buy building supplies for the new church.
 
Kim Walko, a Petrolia member of Project Santiago and a member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Petrolia, said "We have witnessed how a community is uplifted by helping each other build homes. To have the opportunity to help build a permanent place of worship will bring the community even closer together."

Source: Petroliatopic

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Nearly 2 years later the Dominican Republic has a US Ambassador

In a National Palace ceremony Wednesday morning four new ambassadors presented their credentials to Dominican Republic president Leonel Fernandez, including Raul H. Yzaguirre of the United States, Jose Rafael Torres, of  Costa Rica, Moshe Semoneta, of Israel and Thomas Schuller Gotzburg, of Austria

The National Palace Hall of Ambassadors was the site of the ceremony, with Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales also present.

Yzaguirre was a professor at Arizona State University, in Phoenix, before his designation, and replaced Robert Fannin, also from Arizona, in a vacancy that lasted nearly two years.


Source: Dominican Today

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Cholera reaches the Dominican Republic

Health authorities in the Dominican Republic confirmed the nation's first case of cholera, just says after the government took drastic steps to limit border traffic with Haiti, where an epidemic has taken more than 1,000 lives.

A 32-year-old Haitian man who works construction in the Dominican Republic and visited his homeland for a two-week vacation returned Friday vomitting and with diarrhea, Health Minister Bautista Rojas said at a press conference Tuesday evening.

The man, identified as Wilmo Lowes, is in stable condition at a hospital in Higüey, in eastern Dominican Republic, Rojas said

``He went to a health center in the capital on Friday. It wasn't a very strong case of diarrhea, so he was released the next day,'' Rojas said.

``In light of the fact that his illness was light, he decided to continue to his final destination, Higüey.''

When he arrived there he was hospitalized again and the cholera was confirmed.

The man was in Haiti from Oct. 31 until Friday, when he traveled by bus from Haiti back to the Dominican Republic, sending authorities scrambling to determine whether he could have contaminated anyone along the way, press reports said.

Twelve other suspected cases were tested but turned out negative. One person had salmonella poisoning and others suffered from routine diarrhea, according to a Health Ministry statement.

Three more cases were confirmed on the Haiti side of the border, according to press reports.

The Dominican government had already taken measures to limit border crossings in Dajabón, where a chaotic market takes place twice a week. Haitian merchants regularly cross the border to the Dominican border town and sell their wares.

The market was closed for several days while authorities determined how best to contain the number of Haitians visiting Dajabón.

The market reopened this week, with merchants limited to a small lot and prohibited from selling certain foods and used clothes.

``This is not a matter of commerce,'' Rojas said last week. ``It's a matter of health.''

More than 1,000 people have died in Haiti from the illness, which is carried largely by drinking contaminated water.

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Monday, November 15, 2010

Dominican diver killed in rare shark attack

A young man who was diving in the zone Las Malenas near this resort town was devoured by a shark Monday morning, according to the Police and the Navy.

The victim of the rare attack, Pedrito Pinales, 21, was found completely mutilated by a Navy patrol boat floating in the Caribbean, in front of the beach.

He was known as a competent diver and resided 47 kilometers east of Santo Domingo on the Easter Motorway, in the rural area Las Malenas, said the authorities.

Pinales’ colleagues said they had warned him several times on the presence of sharks in that zone, but ignored them arguing that he wasn’t afraid of them.

Source: Dominican Today

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Moderate Earthquake Rattles Dominican Republic

A magnitude-5.5 earthquake shook the Dominican Republic early Saturday but caused no significant damage, the director of the Seismological Institute of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Eugenio Polanco, said.

The temblor occurred at 12:30 a.m. and its epicenter was south-southeast of Saona Island in the Caribbean Sea, at a depth of some 100 kilometers (62 miles).

The seismic movement was felt at numerous points in the eastern Dominican Republic, including Higüey, La Romana and San Pedro de Macoris, as well as in the capital, Santo Domingo.

“It was a fairly deep earthquake, as the ones in this area tend to be,” Polanco said, adding that in the country’s eastern region, quakes have “a pretty high frequency.”

The first information gathered by the Seismological Institute in collaboration with the civil defense agency and the emergency management office showed that there was no significant damage, the expert said.

Polanco warned that Dominicans should be prepared for temblors of this kind. “The Dominican Republic should be constantly on the alert, because the country has the right conditions for seismic movements like this and we never know when an earthquake will strike.”

Source: Latin American Herald Times

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Friday, November 12, 2010

Dominican Republic To Stage CONCACAF Under U-17 Qualifying

The Dominican Republic will host second-round Group F of Caribbean qualifying for the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, the Caribbean Football Union announced Friday.

Jamaica was originally designated to host the group August 18-22 but it subsequently was named as host of the CONCACAF finals. That secured it an automatic berth in the finals of the CONCACAF championship and required the group be reconfigured.

The group will consist of the host Dominicans, Haiti, first-round Group C winner Guyana and first-round Group D winner Barbados.

Two teams from Group F will qualify for the CONCACAF finals February 14-27, along with Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba, which finished atop Group D.

CONCACAF U-17 Championship
Caribbean Qualifying
Second Round


Group F
At San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Wednesday, December 8

Haiti vs. Barbados
Dominican Republic vs. Guyana

Friday, December 10
Guyana vs. Haiti
Dominican Republic vs. Barbados

Sunday, December 12
Guyana vs. Barbados
Dominican Republic vs. Haiti

Source: Box Score News

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Book defending Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo banned

A judge on Thursday banned the sale of a biography of Rafael Trujillo - the strongman who ran the Dominican Republic for 30 years - written by the dictator's daughter.

"Trujillo, My Father" is written by Trujillo's youngest daughter Maria de los Angeles Trujillo, born in Paris in 1939.

The book presents a warm and humane portrait of Rafael Trujillo, the man nicknamed "The Boss" who ruled the Dominican Republic with an iron fist from 1930 until he was murdered in 1961.

Judge Katia Gomez issued a ruling "forbidding any activity or initiative aimed at rehabilitating the Trujillo era," the newspaper Listin Diario reported on its online edition.

Gomez said that she would fine the Luna bookstore - the only store in the country selling the book - for each day it refuses to comply.

The author, best known by her nickname Angelita, dismisses in her book the official version of the murder of the three Mirabal sisters - one of the most high-profile crimes attributed to Trujillo - as a "conspiracy."
The upper-class sisters were regime opponents murdered in 1960 after visiting two of their husbands who were in jail for plotting against Trujillo.

For many, their deaths marked the beginning of Trujillo's downfall.

The judge's ruling also denies permission to the Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina Foundation, a Florida-based group, to open a branch in the Dominican Republic.

The brutality of Trujillo's regime was the main theme in "The Feast of the Goat," the 2000 novel by Peruvian Nobel award winner Mario Vargas Llosa.

A 2001 Hollywood movie starring Salma Hayek was made about the Mirabal sisters, "In the Time of the Butterflies."

Source: AFP

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9th Anniversary of Flight 587 Crash

A memorial service in Queens on Friday will mark the ninth anniversary of the deadly crash of American Airlines Flight 587. The flight was on its way to the Dominican Republic after taking off from Kennedy International Airport.

Two-hundred-65 people were killed when the plane crashed in Belle Harbor. Five people on the ground were among those killed.

The horrific crash came only two months after the terror attacks of 9/11.
The National Transportation Safety Board found that the cause of the crash was the overuse of the plane's rudder to counter wake turbulence.

A granite memorial honoring the victims is located in neighboring Rockaway Parkway.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be on hand at Friday's service scheduled for 9 a.m. at Beach 116th Street and Rockaway Boulevard.

Source: My Fox NY

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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dominican Republic lags behind similar nations,in health, education, UN report

The Dominican Republic’s important advances in health, education and a basic standard of living in the last decades are overshadowed by a continued delay and less improvement in those areas than other nations with equal or less wealth.

The statement is from the report “The True Wealth of Nations: Path to Human Development”, presented Wednesday by the United Nations Program  for Development (UNPD), that ranks Dominican Republic 88 among the 169 countries analyzed.

PNUD Office for Human Development coordinator Miguel Ceara Hatton stressed that in relation to the rise in wealth by inhabitants in the country, education and health didn’t improve in the same proportion.
He also noted that the Human Development Index (HDI) not linked to income takes Dominican Republic to the 100th position among 169 countries, “that is to say, that it continues showing a lag in education and health compared to other nations with the same or lower wealth per inhabitant.”

Ceara said other countries with fewer resources have advanced more than Dominican Republic in terms of human development; an inequality he affirms also affects the HDI.

The report specifies that when adjusted for inequality, the index loses 25% of its value, or 7 positions lower, precisely where the country holds the 40th spot among the nations with the highest loss from the DHI’s adjustment for inequality.

Source: Dominican Today

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Cholera outbreak in Haiti 'contained', but Dominican Republic seals border

The Dominican Republic has sealed itself off from Haiti - stepping up military patrols on their shared border - in a bid to stem the cholera emidemic sweeping the quake-hit nation.

The Dominican government bolstered patrols along the 130-mile-long border to halt the entry of undocumented foreigners infected with the disease, which has killed as many as 300 Haitians.

It follows UN peacekeepers firing tear gas to disperse a crowd awaiting to cross into the northwestern town of Dajabon.

President Leonel Fernandez announced the decision after meeting with the ministers of the armed forces and public health.

The only Haitians who will be allowed to enter the country are those who take part in the cross-border markets. These Haitians use designated bridges.

The outbreak that already has left more than 300 people dead and thousands more ill at the doorstep of an enormous potential breeding ground: the squalid camps in Port-au-Prince where 1.3 million Haiti earthquake survivors live.

Health authorities and aid workers are scrambling to keep the tragedies from merging and the deaths from multiplying.

Five cholera patients were reported in the capital, Port-au-Prince, heightening worries that the disease could reach the sprawling tent slums where abysmal hygiene, poor sanitation, and widespread poverty could rapidly spread it.

But government officials said all five apparently got cholera outside Port-au-Prince, and they voiced hope that the deadly bacterial disease could be confined to the rural areas where the outbreak originated last week.

'It’s not difficult to prevent the spread to Port-au-Prince. We can prevent it,' said Health Ministry director Gabriel Timothee.

He said tightly limiting movement of patients and careful disposal of bodies can stave off a major medical disaster.

If efforts to keep cholera out of the camps fail, 'The worst case would be that we have hundreds of thousands of people getting sick at the same time,' said Claude Surena, president of the Haiti Medical Association.

Cholera can cause vomiting and diarrhoea so severe it can kill from dehydration in hours.

Robyn Fieser, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, said she was confident that aid groups and the Haitian government will be prepared to respond to an outbreak should it occur in the camps.

But she stressed that the challenge of preventing its spread is immense'.

'There are proven methods to contain and treat cholera, so we know what we’re dealing with. The biggest challenge is logistics, that is, moving massive amounts of medicine, supplies and people into place to treat them and prevent the disease from spreading,' Ms Fieser said from the neighbouring Dominican Republic.

Doctors Without Borders issued a statement saying that some Port-au-Prince residents were suffering from watery diarrhoea and were being treated at facilities in the capital city.

Cholera infection among the patients had not been confirmed, however, and aid workers stressed that diarrhoea has not been uncommon in Port-au-Prince since the earthquake.
'Medical teams have treated many people with watery diarrhoea over the last several months,' Doctors Without Borders said.

Aid workers in the impoverished nation say the risk is magnified by the extreme poverty faced by people displaced by the January 12 earthquake, which killed as many as 300,000 people and destroyed much of the capital city.

Haitians living in the camps risk disease by failing to wash their hands, or scooping up standing water and then proceeding to wash fruits and vegetables.

'There are limited ways you can wash your hands and keep your hands washed with water in slums like we have here,' said Michel Thieren, an official with the Pan-American Health Organisation in Haiti.

'The conditions for transmission are much higher.'

Source: The Daily Mail
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Budget Travel readers name Dominican Republic Best Value Destination

Thousands of readers from around the world elected the Dominican Republic (DR) as the Best Value Destination, according to Budget Travel's "Readers Choice Awards." Budget Travel's Editor in Chief, Nina Willdorf, stopped by NBC's "The Today Show," on Thursday, July 29, to announce winners of the magazine's "Readers Choice Awards" and recognize DR as an affordable and easily-accessible destination for U.S. travelers.

The DR Minister of Tourism's Vice Minister of International Promotion Magaly Toribio mentioned, "We are honored to be voted a 'Best Value Destination' by Budget Travel readers. The award is so meaningful to us because it comes from savvy travelers who have visited the DR and experienced firsthand our refreshing offerings and lively culture.  The DR Ministry of Tourism will continue to exceed expectations so that visitors can enjoy our country's diverse eco-activities, magnificent nature, world-class beaches and sophisticated accommodations to suit every budget and taste."

Nina Willdorf, Budget Travel editor, noted, "Budget Travel readers are always looking for affordable, exotic vacation ideas and the DR was the clear front-runner in the category for best value destination. The DR is an easy island escape that's close to home."

"With eight international airports, the DR is an easy, direct flight from most major U.S. gateways. With sophisticated cities, resort communities and charming towns and villages in a country with warm, friendly people, the DR is receiving accolades from many top travel organizations as a must-see destination," Toribio added.

The DR's luxury accommodations, unique culture, rich history and natural beauty have not gone unnoticed. Other top rankings and honors for the DR in 2010 include:

Lavish Accommodations & Locations

USA TODAY included Excellence Resorts' Excellence Punta Cana on its "10 Great Places to Get Everything Under the Sun" and "10 Great Resorts for Warm-Weather Escape."

Conde Nast Traveler named the Peninsula House in Samana on the DR's stunning Northeast Coast as the most luxurious place in the Caribbean and the top-scoring property in the Americas on its venerable Gold List 2010 issue.

Travel Agent Magazine named Barcelo Punta Cana one of the top five green resorts in the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda in 2010.

USA TODAY included the Golden Dolphin Villa in Cabrera on the DR's North Coast on its list of "10 Great Places for a Family Reunion" in 2010.

Punta Cana Resort and Club's posh Tortuga Bay Hotel in the DR received the AAA Five Star Diamond Award.

Luxury Living International mentioned Coson Beach in Las Terrenas, DR and Juanillo Beach in Punta Cana, DR on its list for the "Top 10 Beaches to Live on in Paradise," in 2010.

Teeing Off

GolfWeek selected Punta Espada Golf Course in Cap Cana as the best course of the Caribbean and Mexico for 2010. This acknowledgment marks the second consecutive year that the course has earned the top spot in the magazine's annual ranking.

GolfWeek has included nine Dominican golf courses on its "2010 Best Courses of the Caribbean and Mexico:" These include the Teeth of the Dog Golf Course (Casa de Campo) in La Romana; Dye Fore Golf Course (Casa de Campo) in La Romana; Playa Grande Golf Course in Rio San Juan; Roco Ki Faldo Legacy Golf Course in Macao, Punta Cana; La Romana Country Club (Casa de Campo); Guavaberry Golf & Country Club in Juan Dolio; La Cana Golf Course (PUNTACANA Resort & Club); and Links Golf Course (Casa de Campo) in La Romana.

Top Travel Destinations

Santo Domingo received the 2010 Cultural Capital Award from the American Capital of Culture. (www.cac-acc.org)

Budget Travel named Samana Peninsula, DR one of its "Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2010."

CNN included the DR as one of its recommendations for "Affordable and Accessible Vacations in 2010."

Travel + Leisure named the DR and Los Haitises National Park on its list of "30 Romantic Dream Trips 2010."

Orbitz.com listed Punta Cana, DR as number eight on its list of "Top 10 Spring Break Destinations for 2010."

Coastal Living named Saona Island in the DR on its list of "Top 31 Best Beach Vacations," in 2010.

Source: Dominican Today

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Monday, November 8, 2010

Dominican Republic Receives Super Tucanos

Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez on Oct. 29 accepted into inventory eight Embraer AT-29 Super Tucano trainer and light attack aircraft.

The initial aircraft were delivered in December 2009, and another batch arrived this year. The Dominican Republic air force notes that 10 pilots and 21 copilots already have been trained to operate the turboprop, with another eight pilots now in training.

The aircraft is expected to be used heavily in counter-drug operations, as well as in monitoring for illegal immigration. Maritime surveillance also is on the agenda.

Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador are also AT-29 operators. Embraer’s current backlog for the type should see production continue at least until mid-2011, although the company is exploring further deals to extend the line.

Embraer reports that in its third-quarter results, released Oct. 29, defense represented 13% of year-to-date net sales, or around $440 million. In the third quarter alone, eight Super Tucanos were delivered — two to Brazil, three to Ecuador, and the last three in the Dominican Republic’s buy.

The aircraft maker also notes that the second A-4 fighter to be modernized for the Brazilian navy is now at its Gaviao Peixoto facility, and that other programs, such as the A-1M AMX modernization and India’s airborne early warning effort, are progressing.

Source: Aviation Week
Photo: Embraer

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88 children poisoned in the Dominican Republic

Eighty-eight children in Dominican Republic were poisoned on Thursday 21st October in Azua city, 160 kilometers south to Santo Domingo, after they ate their breakfast in their school.

This is not the first time that something like this happened in the country. The food is provided by the government and to the moment no authorities have given an explanation about this event.

The children poisoned on Thursday were hospitalized in Taiwan Hospital in Azua city.

Meanwhile, the local press said on Thursday that senator Rafael Calderon regretted the event and said that since the beginning of 2010 hundreds of children have been affected for the food given by the Education Ministry.

The company Lacteos Dominicanos (Ladom), in charge of supplying the poisoned milk, announced on Thursday the suspension of the program, till the security organizations finish the investigations.
However, Education Minister Melanio Paredes warned the company with carrying out legal actions if it stops supplying the milk.

The program began in 1992, and since then more than 2,000 children have been poisoned.

Source: Manilla Bulletin

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AES Dominicana US$284M bond is highest private offer ever

The energy group AES Dominicana on Monday offered US$284 million in bonds in the global financial market, the biggest issue ever by a Dominican Republic company.

AES Dominicana said the issue shows the confidence of the financial community and the foreign investors in the country’s electrical sector. The executives were visiting potential investors in Europe, the United States and other countries where the offer was positively received.

Of the total, US$167.5 million are from AES Dominicana branches Andres, LTD and US$116.4 million from Itabo Dominicana, LTD, with maturity of 10 years, which seek to reduce the company’s financial costs.

"This issue shows how the AES Dominicana investors perceive the unquestionable success in the company’s administrative and operative management, which as a whole contributes around 40% of all the energy supplied to the National Interconnected Electrical System (Seni) and which additionally develops the Natural Gas market prompting a favorable change the country’s energetic matrix towards more competitive and environment-friendly fuels," the company said in a emailed statement.

The group AES Dominicana began its operations in Dominican Republic in 1997, becoming the top investor in the power sector and the core of the Dominican power sector.

Its group includes Dominican Power Partners (DPP), AES Andres and ITABO S.A., with a 50% stake, in a strategic alliance with the State, in adherence to the Public Company Reform Law of June 24, 1997.

Source: Dominican Today

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Sunday, November 7, 2010

Al Gore heads Dominican Republic conference on climate change

Santo Domingo.- Former United States vice president Al Gore met with president Leonel Fernandez in the National Palace yesterday, prior to heading a conference on climatic change.

They discussed the changes in the planet’s climate and its possible influence on the global economy.

The Dominican leader and the head of the Thinking Green Foundation also spoke about international politics and its future perspective, in the meeting in which the Presidency’s Chief of Staff Luis Manuel Bonetti was also present.

Article and picture taken from Dominican Today.

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Dominican Republic 17 British Virgin Islands 0

Thursday, October 14th 2010 – Panamericano Stadium, Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic opened Group D of the Digicel Cup and in so doing re- wrote the history books as they annihilated the British Virgin Islands by a scoreline never before seen in the entire CONCACAF region for international football. The margin of 17 clear goals, while keeping a clean sheet, is unrivalled in football in the history of the game across the CONCACAF region in all international competitions.

With the game having been delayed by 19 hours due to the challenges faced by the BVI in transit, the visitors may wish they never did eventually get on that plane. While the World record is currently held in the Oceania region by Australia who defeated American Samoa 31-0 in 2002 in a World Cup Qualifier, the closest result to this game in the CONCACAF region was achieved on the 14th April 2001 when St Lucia defeated USVI 14-1 in the old Caribbean Cup. The next closet being achieved in a leap year on 29th February 2004 when Bermuda overcame Montserrat by a scoreline of 13-0 in a World Cup qualification game.

Man of the Match Darling Batista opened his account and his first of five on his own personal tally after only 5 minutes play. A good passing movement which began with Cesar Garcia resulted in fans favourite Fana picking out Batista who made no mistake from 12 yards.
Navarro and Peralta got on the score sheet before half time to make it four nil to the home side on 45 minutes. The second half started at an incredible pace and whatever syrup was in the half time drinks for the Dominican players should be bottled and sold as the players came out and added a bakers dozen to the scoreline to shatter all previous records in the CONCACAF region.

With Peralta and Navarro both completing their hat tricks and Batista notching five, Ozuma, Reynuso notching a brace each and Severino and Frechilla completing the rout, there was little room for doubt on the intention of the home side as they face into their last home game in Group D of the Digicel Cup on Sunday next against Dominica.

For BVI, who have experienced one of the worst times in their history these last few days after suffering a break in at their offices and HQ overcoming inclement weather issues to eventually travel, challenges with players passports, obtaining confirmation on player eligibility, flight delays and rounding off with a record beating mauling, the final whistle was welcomed and couldn’t come fast enough for the disheartened squad as they now have to start to prepare for their final game in the Digicel Cup against Dominica occurring tomorrow Friday October 15th with a 3pm kick off.

While the statisticians and record keepers wait tomorrow’s result with a curious eye, the Dominican Republic can enjoy their celebrations tonight as they realise that no matter what occurs in the rest of the tournament, they have marked their place in history forever in the Digicel Caribbean Cup and in the record books of CONCACAF with an unequalled win in the annals of the game across the region.

Source: Digicel Football

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Saturday, November 6, 2010

Dominican women the third most flirtatious in the world!

Here is some great news for hot blooded men. Spanish women are the most flirtatious in the world online, according to a survey by a dating website which said the results belie lingering perceptions of a socially conservative country.

Badoo.com found Spanish women are more likely to initiate Internet dating contact with a man than women from any other country in which the site operates.

Badoo, which boasts 80 million registered users across more than 240 countries said it studied 90 million contacts made over a month.

It showed that the average Spanish woman initiates 1.33 contacts with a man per month — almost double the figure for women in either Britain (0.78) or France (0.69) and more than double that for women in the United States (0.63).

“First the (soccer) World Cup, now this,” Badoo marketing director Lloyd Price said in a statement. “Another global win for Spain.”

The league table ranking the 20 top countries on the number of contacts with a man initiated per month by the average woman put Poland second, followed by the Dominican Republic, Italy and Argentina. Latin countries (Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese-speaking) occupied eight of the top 10 places.

Article taken from Gateway to South America.

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Hurricane Tomas forces evacuation of thousands in Dominican Republic

Hundreds of families were evacuated Friday in the Dominican Republic due to floods caused by Hurricane Tomas, authorities said.

The Emergency Operations Center said in a bulletin that 8,400 people were taken to 21 official shelters, while 1,680 houses were affected by the floods.

In the Moscu district of San Cristobal province, south of the country, 173 people were evacuated and taken to a local community center, while others sought shelter with their relatives and friends.

Meanwhile, the La Ochocientas, La Barquita and Arroyo Manzano districts of Santo Domingo were flooded due to the pouring rains.

The center said that the flood alert has been extended from Bahia de Manzanillo in the northwest of the country to Puerto Plata on the Atlantic coast.

The National Meteorological Office has also forecast flooding in 29 provinces.

A bridge connecting the Mixta district in Duverge municipality in Independence province with the Neiba municipality in Bahoruco province collapsed Friday morning.

Aqueduct and Sewage System Corporation of Santo Domingo director Freddy Perez said that as many water systems have been broken, many sectors in Santo Domingo will be without water for several days.

Source: Xinhua


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Dominican Republic offers Chile miners, families free vacations

SANTIAGO.- The Government of the Dominican Republic on Saturday offers the 33 miners rescued in Chile all expenses paid vacations in the Caribbean country’s numerous resorts, the Dominican embassy in Santiago said in a statement.

It called the invitation for the workers who spent 70 days 700 meters beneath the earth’s surface "a recognition of and affection for these men with proven bravery.

“Dominican Tourism minister Francisco Javier Garcia has the honor of formally invites the 33 miners and their respective families to enjoy all expenses paid vacations in our country," the embassy said.

The document also congratulates Chilean President Sebastián Piñera for the successful rescue operation. “The Government of the Dominican Republic shares their joy and those of their relatives, and also wishes to communicate that all Dominicans have followed this drama day after day and which today has a happy ending."

Article and picture taken from Dominican Today.

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Study confirms Dominican Republic’s tourism success: a smile

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic’s main tourist attraction isn’t a white sand beach with its turquoise water so common in the East region, nor the comfort of a luxury resort. After a visit to the country, the tourists from Europe, the United States and Canada place their contact with people as the best part of their experience.

This isn’t the usual blurb in the official and private sector’s advertizing, but the result of research requested by Tourism minister Francisco Javier Garcia. “When I arrived at the Ministry the first thing I did was to order a study to find out why foreigners preferred this nation; the Dominicans’ warmth was the answer.”

Today with a flow of nearly 4 million visitors per year, the tourism industry spends millions in ads for new residential complexes, infrastructure and services, while its main asset moves spontaneous through the resorts with smiles and amiable attention.

“With their environmental, historic and even cultural conditions, Dominicans are dynamic and receptive. They always have a smile,” said Lissette Gil, a specialist of the Dominican Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (DSTA).

Her experience in community projects nationwide allows her to assure that tourist development plans haven’t taken the advantage of the personality and the local customs into account, as they are characteristics that can be better exploited to add to the country’s value as a destination.

The divide between the local culture and the tourism business is such, Gil says, that in the large hotels it’s easier to find a Chinese or Mexican restaurant that one with Dominican cuisine.

Gil says the community must properly prepare itself to reach out to the visitors, so they can have a true contact with the essential Dominican things. “When there’s more closeness to the essential elements of culture the destination becomes much more competitive,”


Article and picture taken from Dominican Today.

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