Dominican Republic ignores nautical tourism despite ´huge´ potential

Santo Domingo.- Toharness Dominican Republic´s "huge potential" to become leader in nauticaltourism, some challenges that hinder its development must first be surmounted forthe segment to generate significant revenue.

DMK Abogados – CentralLaw Environment Dept. director Patricia Parra Guzman made the statement during theDominican Annual Tourism Forum 2015 (FODATUR), and stressed the legal andinstitutional challenges to overcome and potentiate sustainable nautical tourism.

"Until this veryday we´ve understood that national public policy is confined to terrestriallimits, turning its back to the world of opportunities which the sea means for thishalf-island," Guzman said.

She said nauticaltourism´s regulatory framework is "almost nil" since there areinitiatives in Congress for that area which have been "cooking for years withoutsuccess," the expert said, adding that regulations are dispersed andsometimes ambiguous, posing yeat another challenge to spur the sector.