The Republic Dominican is the scenario in which Organization of the United Nations for Tourism (UN Tourism) celebrates this Thursday the First Summit between Africa and the Americasa regional meeting that seeks to establish strategic alliances to strengthen tourism activity through the promotion of the history and culture shared between these two continents.
By participating in the opening of this event, the minister of Relationships ExteriorsRoberto Álvarez, highlighted that the tourismin addition to contributing to the economic growth of the countries that make up both regions, “is a tool to “build bridges, encourage dialogue and promote understanding.”
“Africa and the Americas They share an ancestral bond, woven into the history and soul of our people; an unbreakable bond that transcends and that today is projected towards a future of brotherhood and development,” acknowledged the official, who valued the meeting as a “historical milestone.”
He expressed that the roots african are present, both “in the deep genetics” of the Dominican, as in their artistic and cultural expressions, which represents an opportunity to strengthen cultural and commercial ties.
As part of this approach, the Republic Dominican It has bilateral agreements with 48 of the 54 African countries, highlighting the recent elimination of visas in ordinary Angolan passports, as one of the recent achievements.
This is important for a country that seeks to strengthen its air connectivity with the continent, highlighted the minister of Tourism David Collado, who also chairs the Commission of Tourism of the Americas.
He indicated that, currently, the country has more than 200 airline routes operated by 100 airlines93 cruise lines, more than 85,000 Hotel rooms and an outstanding infrastructure, with eight international airports and seven cruise ports, which allowed us to exceed the arrival of one visitor per inhabitant last year, with the presence of 10,036,000 foreigners and ethnic people.
Collado described it as necessary for the tourism Dominican have a long-term vision “to enhance destinations and manage weaknesses”, which will require new strategic alliances that involve the public and private sectors.
He assured that the celebration of this summit is part of the efforts of the country to move in that direction, and indicated that “there is strength in unity” to promote the joint development of the tourism industries of both regions.
The shared potential
UN Secretary General TourismZurab Pololikasvili, defined the summit as a historic event to lay the foundations to create closer international relations between both regions.
He indicated that both tourism of America like that of Africa They are already “fully recovered” from the crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic in the industry, positioning the numbers above pre-pandemic levels.
Pololikasvili spoke about building a roadmap to improve the narratives of these two regions, improve their market positioning international and expand the tourism as an industry to achieve economic advancement.
“This is the opportunity to dialogue and design common solutions,” he said.
Tradition and gastronomythe African tourist attraction
The first lady of the Republic of ZimbabweAuxilia Mnangagwa, thanked the celebration of the summitwhich he considered an opportune scenario for Africa expand your world heritage historical and cultural. “We want to spread the experiences of our ancestors“he highlighted.
The official reviewed the work she has done regarding the promotion of gastronomy of Zimbabwe as a potential for tourismwhich led to the development of culinary and agricultural initiatives, focused on generating economic development for women and their families.
He indicated that these efforts became a subregional gastronomic competition, which allowed promoting gastronomy as a tourist engine for Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, along with Zimbabwe.
The event attracted the community internationalachieving the invitation of the UN Tourism for the participation of Zimbabwe at a World Gastronomic Festival, held in Spain.
“It is crucial for Africa and America build a common agenda that allows us to design new products, unleash new synergies and exchange experiences,” he highlighted.
It motivated the celebration of a following summitand proposed the holding of a gastronomic forum between Africa and the Americas let it be celebrated in your country.
They recognize efforts of Kenya with Haiti
The chancellor Dominican, Roberto Álvarez, welcomed the initiative of Kenya to lead the Multinational Mission to restore peace and security in the neighboring country of Haiti.
“The peace and stability of Haiti These are issues of national security, so the Kenyan effort is highly valued,” he said, while thanking Benin, another of the African countries that will add troops to the deployment.
