This week we had the great pleasure of meeting one-on-one with Andres van der Horst Alvarez, a man with a lot of interest in tourism in Punta Cana and a man who wears many hats. Andres is the CEO of Canita Beer, the beer of Punta Cana. Andres is also the Executive Director of the National Council on Competitiveness, an officially supported group of policy leaders that advances national competitiveness issues, including promoting corporate social responsibility. Here he is in a photo where he’s isn’t wearing one of his many hats!
Canita is strongly committed to promoting the beauty, community, and culture of Altagracia province and is one of the sponsors of the La Altagracia Province 15K run. Canita has investors that include Frank Elias Ranieri, part of the Punta Cana Group that has long been one of the companies most committed to a strong private sector role in promoting sustainable development, primarily through its nonprofit the Puntacana Foundation.
Canita Beer is from the province of Higuey, which Canita notes comes from the indigenous Taino people word for “place where the sun is born.” Canita is indeed a not too heavy, crisp lager beer that is perfect for the beach and the sun and other festive occasions. BeachCorps can confirm this from personal experience. 🙂
Another hat that Andres wears is tourism advisor to the President Danilo Medina on issues related to Altagracia Province, the heart and soul of the Dominican tourism industry. So we had a lot of interest in hearing what Andres said about sustainable tourism in the Dominican Republic.
Probably the most interesting comment that Andres made was that sustainable development in Punta Cana is limited by the fact that the vast majority of local inhabitants don’t really think of Punta Cana as home. Of course, the vast majority of inhabitants in Altagracia Province on any given day are tourists, who obviously aren’t as concerned about the prospects for the area around them beyond the week ahead on their vacation.
There is also a vast array of foreigners and Dominicans who come from other parts of the DR who live and work in Punta Cana, but have no sure plans to live there forever. This is true at all income levels, from the high paid hotel executives to the hotel porter. So very few of the locals are thinking in terms of the long term, of their children’s future in Punta Cana or their children’s children.
Andres wants to change that over time through education, by giving people a vision of the importance of sustainability in all its facets: economic, social and environmental. He also wants tourists to know that they can contribute to sustainability by supporting greener travel that invests in people and doesn’t over-stress the local environment.
Of course, Andres said he loves what BeachCorps is doing and wishes us luck as we work to support great nonprofits in the Punta Cana area. We want tourists and the people of Punta Cana to think of Punta Cana as a place and a home worth loving and protecting.
We want to help Andres and other great Dominicans like him to teach more locals that when thinking about sustainability in Punta Cana and the Planet Earth they should think of the words of Dorothy in the wizard of Oz: “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”
Photo: Outside the Four Points Sheraton in Punta Cana, part of the Punta Cana Group.
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