Madrid.- Tourism minister Francisco Javier Garcia announced new strategies to attract more European visitors and new tourists from that region’s markets for the next high season.

He said a study will be conducted to evaluate the current promotion techniques and marketing strategies used by the country as a destination.

Garcia spoke during a meeting with the heads of Tourism promotion offices in Europe to evaluate that market, its growth and where strategies were planned to attract tourists from new markets. “We must review what’s being done now and the type of tourists we receive, open new market niches and redefine our tourism offer, stressing the human factor which distinguishes us form the Caribbean other destinations.”

The said the meeting also served to identify new opportunities after analyzing Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, England, Italy, the Netherlands, East Europe and Scandinavia.

Garcia affirmed that visits by Russian tourists jumped 35.7% in the first half, and announced that Puerto Plata will be re-launched because in his view it’s one of the Caribbean’s most complete tourism destinations. He said the effort includes the construction of an amphitheatre in the Malecon and a fairground which will complement it as a destination.

The Central Bank reported that to June the country received 600,000 residents from the European continent, paced by France (146,029), Germany (90,533), Spain (85, 526) and England with 82,037.