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Santo Domingo, R. D. - June 08, 2020 - The Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability "Alejandro E. Grullón E.", of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra and the Popular Foundation, in alliance with the Grupo Puntacana Foundation and the United Nations Program for Development in the Dom. Rep., held the Conversation on the sustainability of the post-COVID-19 tourism industry.
The Pbro. Dr. Alfredo De La Cruz Baldera, rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), expressed his pleasure in giving the opening along with the other organizing institutions, Fundación Grupo Puntacana, the United Nations Program for the Development of Dominican Republic (UNDP), and the Popular Foundation, to this space for reflection on a topic that is very transcendental for the economy of our country, the sustainability of post-Covid-19 tourism. The PUCMM continues betting on the future that, although it certainly seems to have no end, remains hopeful. Also, it wants to contribute to the sustainability of this industry, developing human talent as it corresponds to us, with the skills required to continue advancing.
Dr. José Mármol, executive vice president of Public Relations and Communications of Grupo Popular, raised “from now on terms such as Covid-19, new coronavirus, pandemic will be the ones we are going to hear for many years in our lives and the new normality to which we are exposed”. Before the first case of coronavirus appeared in the country, we were experiencing an information crisis in tourism and this means an opportunity for tourism in the Dominican Republic to rise as it always has, Mármol recalled.
For her part, Ms. Inka Mattila, UNDP resident representative in the country, explained that we are far beyond a health crisis, we are actually facing a more severe socioeconomic or development crisis, as never seen and clearly , the 2030 Development Agenda is strongly affected. She briefly reflected on how this 2030 Agenda can become this recovery roadmap, not only in the tourism sector, but also at the level of companies and brands. Ms. Mattila pointed out that for a great recovery to be visualized in the Dominican tourism sector it will be until the end of 2021.
Mr. René Grullón Finke, Senior Executive Vice President of National and International Business of Banco Popular, contributed that tourism throughout the world is of great importance due to its high added value, mainly due to the strong link it has with other sectors. through its value chain. He indicated that the average tourism growth in the last 8 years has been 9.4%, which means that these sectors are very noble and have had a very basic 300 growth points, which is reflected in the entire economy. He affirmed that the fiscal contribution is very important, since we passed the 10 billion pesos of contribution. In 2012, we were receiving 5 million pesos, just from tourism and it has doubled to date. Which also makes tourism the main recipient of foreign direct investment in the Dominican Republic. it is a reality that human beings have to travel and, therefore, it is understood that the tourism sector has great resilience; and, finally, he understands that the present and the future of tourism in our country rest on sustainability and commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, highlighted René Grullón Finke.
Mr. Frank Rainieri, president and CEO of the Puntacana Group, discussed the initiatives of the tourism sector in the face of the health crisis and the concerns that this crisis has caused globally. “Only in the tourism sector, 100 million jobs and 2.7 trillion dollars have been lost in the world economy due to the Coronavirus. He corroborated that, as a Puntacana group, he is not discouraged; because when looking back and seeing all the situations that they have experienced as a company; Throughout the years, when he started in the industry, there were problems that paralyzed tourism. Likewise, he affirmed "natural catastrophes also hit tourism and the country's economy, these have been some of the ups and downs that the country has had in terms of tourism."
Mr. Rainieri stated that in this process, the Puntacana group, when the first case appeared, placed themselves at the service of the community, supplying respirators to hospitals, gloves, and masks, they joined as a society and company in the work of controlling the pandemic. At the moment, we are now in the process of recovering the human being and the industry, because without the collaboration of human beings we do not have a tourism industry, because in this industry what exists is the interaction between human beings. He pointed out that this pandemic, in the tourist area of the Dominican Republic