Interview with Petra Cruz, Director, Dominican Republic Tourism Promotion Office in Europe

Considering that , in 2009 , 54 , 414 Russian tourists visited the Dominican Republic (22.74 % more than in 2008), this Caribbean country intends to further strengthen its position in the Russian market and , to this end , it will soon open a new tourism office in Moscow.

- Over the past two years, the flow of Russian tourists to the Dominican Republic has grown considerably. I s this related to the decision of the Minister of Tourism to open another tourism office ?
- Yes, the Russian market is of considerable importance for the Dominican Republic, and has recently witnessed impressive growth. On the other hand, Russia is quite large, and we understand that we need to have two offices to promote tourism here . Therefore, in addition to the office in St. Petersburg, we are opening another office in Moscow in the near future.

You personally, as D irector for Europe, have played an important role in opening up the Russian market. What can you say about the development of the market during the c risis?
- From the very start, we identified Russia as a n emerging and promising market. We also identified tour operators , which began working with our country, and organi s ed the first charter flight to the Dominican Republic. We started with one charter flight, and in the last winter season we had 7 flights - in the summer we will have two more. This is evidence that there are emerging markets in Europe , which is why our Minister of Tourism has decided to open new offices to promote tourism in these markets.

- Which airlines currently fly to the Dominican Republic?
- With the Russian market, Transaero have scheduled flights, but they also have an agreement with nine tour operators to sell blocks of seats on charter flights.

- How many seats are there on these flights and how frequent are they ?
- In w inter 2009-2010, just a couple of months ago, we had seven flights - now we have four, but in the summer we have two more flights. The tour operator Coral will independently operate a charter flight to Punta Cana in the winter season 2010-2011 , a Boeing 737-800 seating 220 passengers.

- What do you think about Russian tourists, and the differences in culture and traditions?
- We are really happy with the 54,414 Russian tourists who visited the Dominican Republic in 2009. T here were no complaints f rom the hotel. On the contrary, the spending of Russian tourists is above average, and they buy a lot of excursions. They show great interest in the environment, nature and culture when they visit a country. So I say to Russian tourists: Welcome to the Dominican Republic!

- Do Russian tourists do combined tours - for example, the Dominican Republic and Cuba?
- Yes, but the most important thing for us is that these tourists also do combined tours inside the Dominican Republic. W e are now promoting new destinations in the Russian market, such as Puerto Plata and Samana. We have already held talks and reached agreement s with several tour operators , and they have included these destinations into their travel programmes . There are not yet any direct flights , although we are waiting for the opening of a charter from Russia to Puerto Plata or Samana in the 2010-2011 winter season. Russian tourists quite often return to the Dominican Republic.

- What are the result s for tour ism figures from Russia in recent years?
- As I have said, 54 ,4 14 Russian tourists visited the Dominican Republic in 2009 . This represents an increase of 22.74% compared with 2008. As for Ukraine, the figure is lower, but also on the rise: in 2009 , 4493 Ukrainian tourists visited our country , 16% percent more than in 2008.

- How do Ukrainian tourists choose to fly to the Dominican Republic?
- Currently, there are no charter flights from Ukraine. Tourists fly on regular airlines, such as Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa ... Although the re are ad hoc charter flights over the New Year period.

- The simplification of the visa policy for Russian s travelling to Mexico, the opening of a new Aeroflot route , and the fact that there are many Russian tour operators selling Cancun... Will this affect the flow of tourists to the Dominican Republic in any way ?
- I think that there is enough for everyone. Russia has 200 million inhabitants. While there is interest in our region, we will have a significant percentage of the total tourism market , because we offer the best price-quality ratio in all tourism sectors .

Author: Jose Carlos de Santiago

Source: http://caribbeannewsdigital.com