The Dominican Republic is set to hold the first joint gathering of Africa and America on international tourism.
Carlos Peguero, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Dominican Republic, disclosed the proposed meeting in Spain.
Explaining the details of the first ever meeting between the two regions, Carlos Peguero noted that the event, which is tagged ‘1st Bi-regional UN Tourism Meeting Africa-America’, will take place from October 3- 4, 2024, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Moreover, the Bi-regional meeting is aimed at enhancing cooperation between Africa and America, recognizing and leveraging their shared cultural diversity and tourism products, and ultimately furthering tourism promotion and development in both regions.
“Our primary objective is to strengthen South-South relations and cooperation. In addition to that, we hope to see cultural diversity in terms of tourism products, what we can generate from each side, and see how we can help each other to continue in promoting tourism development,” Peguero said.
The event will also acknowledge Africa’s significant historical and cultural impact on America, with a large portion of the population being of African descent.
According to Peguero, “There is a very important element, the recognition of Africa’s legacy to America because although the Spanish colonized America, in one way or the other, there was also colonization by Africa to America. Perhaps not voluntarily, but they were taken there, and they are part of America. Africa is part of the historical, cultural, and gastronomic legacy of everything that is America.”
The meeting is also intended to boost the plan for the creation of a UN Tourism office in America, having started with discussions between Carlos Peguero and the Minister of Tourism of Brazil. Hence, Bi-regional meeting also aims to provide a platform for continued meetings and strengthen the cooperation between Africa and America.
On her part, Anabel Bueno Santana Folenc, Dominican Republic Ambassador to Spain, assured that the meeting will among other desired outcomes, increase cooperation and technical assistance among the regions, sharing the best practices between one another.
“It will enable us to figure out what new opportunities we can explore together. Since investment is one of the main topics, we will focus on what comes next after the UN’s tourism office in Brazil. Everything will be poured into a roadmap helping us to put together next steps and monitoring,” Ambassador Anabel Bueno Santana Folenc said.
Already, efforts are being made from the American end to get Africa’s involvement in the event. “The support of both the Director of Africa and Latin America is extremely important since they are the liaison between us regions. Meanwhile, for the preparation of the event, we will keep the communication open, meeting with the ministers as well as reaching out to the UN’s ambassadors of each country.
“Between now and then our objective is to integrate African countries, gather inputs, and make them feel like they own the event as well to be all on board,” the Dominican Republic Ambassador to Spain concluded.
