NewsWhore
07-30-2008, 04:00 PM
The ITB Berlin, the world's leading convention and conference authority, has recommended that the best site for the construction of an exhibition, meetings and convention facility for the city of Santo Domingo is the site of the Dominican Naval Academy on the east bank of Ozama River. The site has been ceded to Inversiones Sans Souci for a major hotel, shopping and residential development. The Sans Souci site is adjacent to the Columbus Lighthouse Memorial, the Santo Domingo Aquarium and the Santo Domingo Park of the East sports facility.
At a presentation last night, David Ruetz, senior project manager for ITB Berlin, urged the DR to go forward with the plans for the site. ITB Berlin was commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism to carry out the feasibility study on occasion of the DR being Partner Country of the 2008 ITB Bourse. Ruetz is in the DR to present the results of the study. "The Ministry now needs to study the study," said Ruetz. Among his recommendations is that the site be an architectural landmark, in the style of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Center, and most important that it be an integral part of the community so that it be successful, he said. Ruetz also recommended that the groundwork be carried out so "not to make it too big."
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez at the same presentation at the Embassy of German announced that the study recommends a facility with capacity for 5,000 to 10,000 visitors, and would require the construction of an additional 3,000 hotel rooms in the city, 50% of which would go up in Sans Souci development itself. Speaking optimistically about the positive effects the new convention facility would have on the capital city of the DR, Jimenez said they would work so that in three or four years time a Caribbean version of ITB Berlin could be held in Santo Domingo.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
At a presentation last night, David Ruetz, senior project manager for ITB Berlin, urged the DR to go forward with the plans for the site. ITB Berlin was commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism to carry out the feasibility study on occasion of the DR being Partner Country of the 2008 ITB Bourse. Ruetz is in the DR to present the results of the study. "The Ministry now needs to study the study," said Ruetz. Among his recommendations is that the site be an architectural landmark, in the style of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Center, and most important that it be an integral part of the community so that it be successful, he said. Ruetz also recommended that the groundwork be carried out so "not to make it too big."
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez at the same presentation at the Embassy of German announced that the study recommends a facility with capacity for 5,000 to 10,000 visitors, and would require the construction of an additional 3,000 hotel rooms in the city, 50% of which would go up in Sans Souci development itself. Speaking optimistically about the positive effects the new convention facility would have on the capital city of the DR, Jimenez said they would work so that in three or four years time a Caribbean version of ITB Berlin could be held in Santo Domingo.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)