Instituto Espaillat Cabral and the Safe Tourism Assistance Plan honoured at the 5th Health and Wellness Tourism Congress

• The congress opening ceremony also presented the third edition of the Dominican Republic Health Tourism Destination Guide.

Santo Domingo.- At the 5th International Health and Wellness Tourism Congress, held by the Dominican Health Tourism Association (ADTS) and AF Comunicación Estratégica, the Instituto Espaillat Cabral and the Safe Tourism Assistance Plan, made up of Mitur, Asonahores, Banco de Reservas and Seguros Reservas, were honoured for their contributions to and promotion of health tourism.

The Instituto Espaillat Cabral was recognised as the first centre outside the United States to be internationally accredited by the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP), and the Safe Tourism Assistance Plan, made up of Mitur, Asonahores, Banco de Reservas and Seguros Reservas, for offering tourists a programme to guarantee their emergency medical care and safely revive the tourism industry.

The award for the Instituto Espaillat Cabral was received by Dr. Arnaldo Espaillat. On behalf of the organisations that make up the Safe Tourism Assistance Plan, the awards were received by Francisco Elías of Banco de Reservas, Víctor Rojas for Seguros Reservas, Rafael Blanco Tejada of Asonahores and Jacqueline Mora for Mitur.

The opening ceremony was also the occasion for presenting the third edition of the Dominican Republic Health Tourism Destination Guide, a publication of the Medical Tourism Association (MTA) that aims to show the international community the country’s main attributes as a destination for health, tourism and investment.

The opening remarks were given by Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso, president of the Dominican Health Tourism Association (ADTS), and Amelia Reyes Mora, vice-president of ADTS and president of AF Comunicación Estratégica.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso said that “today more than ever, health and tourism need to innovate and complement each other through collaborative and strategic public-private partnership, which is why we propose creating the conditions to establish a National Health Tourism Council, launching the national strategy for developing the sector and the concept of healthy cities”.

For her part, Amelia Reyes Mora highlighted that “we are very pleased to see the willingness of the public and private sectors to join forces to move forward and make this Congress a reality. The event is part of the strategy to support the diversification of the Dominican Republic’s tourism portfolio and gives multisectoral experts a platform to propose strategies to further strengthen the control and management of this scourge, making a more viable economic recovery possible through innovation and collaboration”.

The organisers said the event, held at the Garden Tent of El Embajador, a Royal Hideaway Hotel in Santo Domingo, took place under strict protocols and safety measures.

The event, attended by representatives of government institutions, national and international guests, members of the diplomatic corps, the financial sector and investors, was supported by organisations including the Ministry of Tourism, Banco Popular, Seminsa, Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago, Seguros Reservas, Banreservas, Wellmed, the Diabetes, Obesity and Specialties Medical Centre (CEMDOE), Arium Health, Humano Seguros, CapCana, Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud, The Panamá Clinic, Global Medical Dominicana, Instituto Espaillat Cabral, Central Romana Corporation, Integra, Curatech, Ureval, Laboratorios Referencia, Diss Dominicana, Mallén, Grupo Rescue, Banco Central, Worldcare, Seguros Universal, AFP Siembra, Cedimat, Médico Express, ProDominicana, Ducto Limpio, Primera ARS, Meliá Punta Cana Beach, Amadita, Banco Lafise, Farmacia Carol, Advanced, Cemeraf, Mass General Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Rocio Ortega Medical Spa, Pro Dominicana, United Healthcare, Meliá Hotels, Aquamap, Olga M. Viñas Certified Translator, Laura Tosato and Pure Napkin.

The media partners promoting and supporting the event are Listín Diario, Resumen de Salud, and the magazines Mercado, Medihealth, Contacto, Santo Domingo Times and Bohío, as well as Infotur Dominicano, Resumen Turismo, Dominican Today, Dominican.news, Medical Report, and the radio and TV programmes Consultando con Ana Simó and La Consulta Médica.