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Las Cuevas de Cabo Rojo, an example of population encroachment into protected areas.
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SANTO DOMINGO.- Most of the country’s tourism and cultural activities violate the environmental procedures and have little diversification, which can stagnate and exhaust the industry, says a report of Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

JICA director Yuichiro Motomura said yesterday the offer of cultural values is often conducted in ecologically fragile zones where liquid and solid wastes are inadequately handled. He said that the operative structure of the "all inclusive" of the country’s large hotels and casinos, stagnates tourism and limits its growth.

The study was used as starting point to draft a National Strategic Plan for Ecotourism Development in Dominican Republic, which the Dominican Government requested from Japan in 2004.

The project, drafted by the Tourism, Environment and Planning ministries, aims to take advantage of the protected areas and promote the tourism industry’s sustainable economic growth, reduce the environmental impact, and improve the quality of life in rural communities, which will participate as guides, interpreters, the rent of mules, souvenirs sale and services.

The Spanish, United States and German cooperation international agencies also collaborate in the project.

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COMMENTS
6 comment(s)
Written by: mike l, 12 Aug 2007 1:52 PM
From: pop
these insights by this japanese outfit validate my thinking on the all inclusive style of tourism.i have maintained all along that it is stagnant and counterintuitive to warehouse foreigners in compounds such as playa dorada,wherein they get to eat more mcdonalds and burger king,go to the same beach every day and pound the same old concrete at night.they leave the country after a week knowing less about it than they did when they arrived.true it is that they get to go on some dune buggy escapade
Written by: mike l, 12 Aug 2007 1:58 PM
From: pop
contd,
and some monster truck runs into he forbidding outback,but that grows old real fast.some creative thinking has to be applied to resuscitate the tourist industry.every island wlthin 20 degrees of the equator has great sun and sand,and the competition is fierce.there is,for example,a hotel in a neighboring island which is for men and their adolescent sons only.gives them some quality time alone for some serious male bonding.more than 40% of fathers in the united states see their children
Written by: mike l, 12 Aug 2007 2:04 PM
From: pop
contd,
on a very limited basis,what with the divorce rate at 50% and rising,combined with adversarial visitation rights.something like this would surely work here.dad and son could go fishing,see the countryside,a little backpacking,perhaps.i am sure you get the picture.at the end of the week they would have accomplished something in terms of cementing a firmer relationship,and had some fun to boot.this beats sitting under an umbrella on the sand inhaling cheap booze all day,and perhaps night
Written by: Pat, 13 Aug 2007 1:40 PM
From: POP
I agree with Mike. The all-inclusive is not only ruining the livelyhood of local shops and restaurants by keeping folks on "the resort plantation" and keeping all the money inside but it also robs tourists of a "real dominican experience". Mike's mention of what they are doing on other islands is acccurate. The DR needs to come up with other ways to entertain tourists besides eating bad resort food and drinking cheap booze. I live in POP now but have vacationed on lots of other islands in
Written by: Pat, 13 Aug 2007 1:44 PM
From: POP
the Caribbean. The DR needs a task force to go to other islands and see what is working there. The resources here are enormmous and there are a lot of untapped ideas out there. Meet with tourits, interview them and see what other kinds of things they would like to do on a caribbean vacation. We need more things to attract families with small kids. Ocean World in getting rich because they are all small children have to do here. There's more to life than surf, booze, food and girls.
Written by: mike l, 14 Aug 2007 10:28 AM
From: pop
pat and i seem to see the results of tourism thinking through the same lens.there is no creativity.on guy started out taking tourists on these outback tours,and shortly thereafter every guy who could get his hands on a truck was putting a bench in the back and forming his own safari thing.this country has so much beauty,culture and other positive attributes to offer,but it suffers from laziness.it is too hard to think,so lets just wait for an idea to come along and copy it.
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