NewsWhore
01-31-2007, 04:40 PM
As part of the recent Central Electoral Board (JCE) reorganization, new wedding fees have been set for foreigners. The higher fees appear to be aimed at offsetting the lower fees for foreign residents and Dominicans. But the decision could prove a blow to the country's booming wedding tourism industry. The highly competitive wedding tourism business is particularly desirable for a country because it has the extra bonus that most couples will want to return to the place they got married. Furthermore, wedding parties usually mean small groups that accompany the couple to be wed, meaning more business for the DR.
The JCE announced that the fee for foreigners to wed at hotels would be increased to RD$15,000, or approximately US$270 more.
Isabel Gonzalez, a promoter of wedding packages to the DR, points out the bad timing of the measure that has come on the heels of the recently introduced US government passport requirement that has increased the cost of traveling to the DR for people without passports.
"Are we going to give away, packaged like a wedding gift, our growing wedding destination business?" she asks. She stresses that this is not about losing just the couple, but about the group that accompanies the couple. "A couple very rarely comes without guests. They usually bring at least four people, and there are many groups of 100 or more guests," she points out.
"We need to think of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where Americans can visit without a passport, and Mexico that offers great deals, as well as Cuba," she mentions.
She also highlights the fact that most weddings are booked many months in advance. "How are we going to tell them they now have to pay US$270, as if we were talking about cents?" she asks.
As of this week, for a foreigner to wed outside a civil registry office (in a hotel, for instance), the charge is RD$15,000. If the couple visits a Civil Registry Office, the charge is RD$10,000. When one of the two is a non-resident foreigner, the wedding will cost RD$8,000 outside the office, or RD$5,000 at the office. When the foreigners are legal residents, the cost will be RD$3,000.
Dominicans who get married outside the offices need to pay RD$3,000, and RD$1,000 for a marriage at the registry.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
The JCE announced that the fee for foreigners to wed at hotels would be increased to RD$15,000, or approximately US$270 more.
Isabel Gonzalez, a promoter of wedding packages to the DR, points out the bad timing of the measure that has come on the heels of the recently introduced US government passport requirement that has increased the cost of traveling to the DR for people without passports.
"Are we going to give away, packaged like a wedding gift, our growing wedding destination business?" she asks. She stresses that this is not about losing just the couple, but about the group that accompanies the couple. "A couple very rarely comes without guests. They usually bring at least four people, and there are many groups of 100 or more guests," she points out.
"We need to think of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where Americans can visit without a passport, and Mexico that offers great deals, as well as Cuba," she mentions.
She also highlights the fact that most weddings are booked many months in advance. "How are we going to tell them they now have to pay US$270, as if we were talking about cents?" she asks.
As of this week, for a foreigner to wed outside a civil registry office (in a hotel, for instance), the charge is RD$15,000. If the couple visits a Civil Registry Office, the charge is RD$10,000. When one of the two is a non-resident foreigner, the wedding will cost RD$8,000 outside the office, or RD$5,000 at the office. When the foreigners are legal residents, the cost will be RD$3,000.
Dominicans who get married outside the offices need to pay RD$3,000, and RD$1,000 for a marriage at the registry.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)