The country-brand
The long-term consolidation of national tourism calls for the firmness of a country-brand. That is, of a set of signs that summarize the qualities of the product (material and immaterial) that the country offers to the foreign visitor. In addition to the quality of the hotels and the beaches, the country-brand would have to transmit to the tourist a sum of sensations and memories linked to the historical space and the landscape, to gastronomy and art, to music and popular culture, to the sport and, of course, to the affability that bubbles spontaneously in the character of the Dominican.
The promotion of the country-brand is usually condensed into a logo (a peculiar iconography) and an allegorical phrase (a slogan). Both resources, it is obvious, aimed at creating a seductive image of the place offered. Some labels of the country-brand campaigns have been, for example:
Colombia: Live Colombia, the country you carry in your heartPeru: There is a Peru for everyoneCosta Rica: Essential Costa Rica / No artificial ingredientsUruguay: NaturalAntigua/Barbuda: The beach is just the beginning
The effusion of the Dominican, his uncontaminated sympathy, is an attribute as valuable perhaps as the sandy beaches, the sunlight and the landscape of coconut and almond trees. An invaluable condition (in a certain way scarce) within the fragmented and capricious Caribbean demography. Therefore, it is necessary to reinforce the image of the country with figures of universal recognition. And shape, with them, a credible iconography that increases the power of conviction of our slogans: "Dominican Republic: It has everything, Inexhaustible, Where it all began..."
LA SONRISA DEL PALADAR (With the image of María Marte. Chef with two Michelin stars. National Gastronomy Award for Best Chef in Spain 2015).
LA AMOROSA SONRISA DEL CONUCO (With image of Juan Luis Guerra. Composer and singer. Winner of numerous Grammy Awards. One of the most significant figures in Hispanic music).
CADENCES OF A SMILE (With image of Milly Quezada. Singer, Queen of Merengue).
THE VIRTUOSISM OF THE SMILE (With image of Michael Camilo. One of the 30 best jazz pianists in history, on the Spotify List).
THE SMILE OF TRIUMPH (With image of Pedro Martínez. Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, USA).
Our country-brand, the characteristic of the Dominican tourism product should be precisely that: a commitment to joy. To ease in a climate and landscape that act as accomplices. A provocative incitement, also, to make this spontaneous national play that does not stop, that nothing and nobody extinguishes...
Chinese tourism
China is the world's leading source of tourists. In 2016, 135 million natives of that country traveled around the world and spent 261 billion dollars (around US$1,900 per capita). Although these figures are surprising, attracting tourism from the Asian giant is unique. In the first place, these travelers have no interest in the sun and the beach. Their culture, their customs and their language are radically different from ours. They are more interested in contact with cultural elements typical of the places they visit: cultural heritage, picturesque places, monuments and scenic spaces. They are passionate about shopping, especially in the luxury sector. The European experience with the Chinese tourist (of medium-high purchasing power) identifies their predilection for buying items from Western brands. Accessories, jewelery and shoes are the most valued products and those on which they spend the most money. Hence, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel, Cartier and Tiffany are some of the boutiques in Barcelona, Madrid or Paris that have most noticed the influx of Chinese tourists.
Given that the country is consolidated as a “sun and beach” holiday destination, the prospect of capturing a significant proportion of Chinese tourism would mean adapting our product to this peculiar demand. First of all, to teach the Mandarin language to guides and service personnel in hotels. In the same way, train them in modalities of courtesy that are intelligible and pleasant to the new visitor. Adapting restaurants to offer Chinese cuisine would undoubtedly be an important factor in this setting. In summary, the potential offered by the Chinese market is extraordinary, although its results would not be immediately perceptible. Initiating this apprenticeship, of course, would be necessary for the future, in the medium term and in the long term, of the national tourism industry.
A promising news
You move forward with long strides. In the last five decades the national reality changed completely. We are now a more prosperous, diversified and radically different society from the one in which our parents or grandparents lived. Others, at this time, are material resources, preferences, customs, beliefs. From just 3,000 students in the 1960s, the current national university enrollment exceeds 400,000 students. Tens of thousands of professionals and technicians have completed their training in foreign universities over these years. There are more than 10 million telephones in the country (practically one for each individual). One in ten people owns a car and 2.2 million motorcycles have replaced quadrupeds as a means of transportation. Now the dream that, within a few years, all Dominicans can read and write seems undeniable.
We have a wide and well-distributed system of highways and highways that connects all the cities and towns of the national territory. More than 80,000 hotel rooms will be used to accommodate the almost seven million tourists that the country will receive next year. Livestock and agro-industrial activity produces 80% of the food consumed by Dominicans and foreign visitors. Seventy out of every hundred people today live in urban areas, and the greater Santo Domingo, with some four million inhabitants, represents the largest, most populous and thriving city in the Caribbean and Central America. But this result should not be fortuitous. The political and economic stability, social peace and legal security of the country have favored the sustained growth of the economy and collective well-being. The Government and the private initiative combine efforts in this great task.
In the end
Dominicans are proud of their historical heritage, their customs, and their natural resources. Thus, they appreciate the distinction that millions of foreign visitors give them every year. The entire population of the country believes in tourism. He conceives it as an essential companion on his journey towards economic and social progress. Perhaps as the aide-de-camp of a hope.
In the streets, people look naturally and sympathetically at the tourist. He smiles at her. Guides you through the parks and monuments. He infects him with happiness without excuses. He encourages him to move with the "barbaric naturalism of the sharp drum." And he invites him, between romps and brandy until dawn, to dance that "furious merengue that has been our history".__________________________________________________ The content of this article comes from the book "Dominican Tourism: 30 years at cruising speed"; a publication of Banco Popular Dominicano in 2018 (text by PDM with photographs by Thiago da Cunha).
