Diaspora tourism in the Dominican Republic: Capitalizing on circular migration

Abstract

While the circulatory migration that defines the transnational realities of Dominicans in the United States have been well documented, there has been less sustained scholastic engagement with mapping the strategic opportunities associated with specific transnational practices, such as diasporic tourism. This study examines the opportunities and constraints of diasporic tourism in the Dominican Republic. It situates the analysis within a wider contextual background of the establishment of a diasporic enclave in New York and the multiple attachments that Dominicans have to their homeland before moving to an analysis of the tourism sector in the DR.

As the numbers of Dominicans abroad increase, so too has the numbers of Dominican travelers, with growing amounts returning to their homeland for the purpose of tourism. Although from the existing literature and my research it is apparent that many first generation Dominicans sought to invest their earnings in the U.S. into a range of microenterprises in their homeland, or support extended family members through remittances; the second and third generations do not share that same sense of obligation to homeland. They do however, identify ethnically and culturally with the Dominican Republic and travel for the purpose of tourism more so than their parents. As their numbers and social capital increases, so too does this pool of potential tourists, hence the need for policy initiatives that can further facilitate the growth of this important niche sector.

Il est reconnu que la diaspora contribue à l’économie de la Caraïbe et de l'Amérique Latine à travers les secteurs du tourisme, des transports, des télécommunications, du commerce et des transferts d'argent. Cependant, le secteur des télécommunications - plus généralement des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) – figure parmi ceux qui suscitent le moins d'intérêt, bien qu'il soit admis que des profits importants pourraient résulter d'une plus forte implication de la diaspora dans ce domaine. Cet article vise à ouvrir le débat sur ce sujet en se concentrant sur les expériences de la diaspora caribéenne fondées sur la notion d'engagement diasporique par l'intermédiaire des télécommunications, comme moyen possible d’évaluer comment ces dernières peuvent contribuer à faciliter et faire progresser la relation de ladite diaspora avec sa région d'origine.

Il est montré que la principale forme d'engagement a été la communication sociale, bien qu'il existe des preuves plus récentes d'une diversification de l'engagement diasporique par l'intermédiaire des télécommunications. Cela est démontré à travers l'utilisation des télécommunications en riposte aux désastres, et pour faciliter la participation aux gouvernances nationales et aux investissements, services et réseaux de connaissances de plus en plus importants qui émergent, avec les télécommunications figurant alors comme un moyen et comme une fin. Néanmoins, les opportunités d'engagement diasporique via les télécommunications restent largement inexploitées en raison d'un certain nombre de défis.

Keywords:

• diasporic tourism
• transnational engagements
• circulatory migration
• diasporic networks
• Dominicans

Notes

Diasporic tourism focuses on transmigrants whose socialization, networks, values and heritage link them to communities and kinship ties in their birth country or that of their ancestors. Diasporic nationals travel back to their communities of ancestral origin primarily to (re) connect with their homeland, families and friends, but these visits may also serve as catalyst for future or further investments in businesses, real estate and other entrepreneurial pursuits.

There were active campaigns within the Dominican immigrant community that they be counted in the 2010 Census and for the first time, many community leaders were demanding that there be a separate designation for those of Dominican nationality or ancestry Analysis of the contemporary figures would determine the demographic shifts in the Dominican community in NYC since 2000.

‘Dominicans in America’, http://www.dr1.com/articles. Accessed on 4 October 2009. Statistics only account for legally registered migrants that identify their location of origin as the Dominican Republic, they do not adequately reflect on the composite population, especially undocumented migrants that are illegally residing in the United States.

‘U.S. Legal Permanent Residents: 2009’ in Annual Flow Report, Randall Monger, http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/lpr_fr_2009.pdf. Accessed 15 April 2010.

Here is a list of some of the Travel Agencies in Washington Heights: Valle Verde Travel Inc.; CG Multiservice Corp.; Mundi Travel Agency; MONY Travel Service Incorporated; American World Wide Travel Inc.; Yolimar Travel Inc.; Don Quixote Travel; Rivas Travel Agency; Star Rapid & Envios; Popular Travel; Las Quisqeya Travel Agency.

This maybe attributed to the informality of financial earnings and the lack of access to credit cards.

Interview published in the ‘Neighborhood Report: Washington Heights – An Airline Folds and Many Dominicans Will Not be Home for Christmas’, New York Times, 21 December 2003.

Haggerty, Richard A., ed., 1989. ‘Tourism’ in Dominican Republic: A country study. Washington, DC: GPO for the Library of Congress. Available from: http://www.countrystudies.us/dominican-republic [Accessed 20 October 2009].

The Dominican Republic is followed by Puerto Rico at 14 per cent tourist expenditure and Cuba with 9.8 per cent. For further statistics see Caribbean Tourism Organization Annual Report 2004 Published on 22 March 2007. Available from http://www.onecaribbean.org.

This figure represents a gross underestimate because it does not capture second or third generation Dominicans or diasporic nationals travelling on foreign passports. According to tourist officials on the island, the percentage of travellers would be more accurately placed between 43 and 45 per cent of the total visitor arrivals.

Swarns, Rachel L., ‘Travel Advisory: Correspondent's Report Dominican Republic Avoids Haiti's Spill Over’” 9 May 2004 NY Times accessed 22 March 2010.

‘Tourism Ministry Launches Advertising Campaign to Encourage Visits to DR’ Dominicana On Line Date of Publication: 24 July 2009. Available from http://www.dominicanaonline.org/Portal/english/default.asp [Accessed 20 November 2010].

Tourism statistics for 2010, Banco Central de la Republica Dominicana.

‘Poverty’ in Dominican Today. Published 14 February 2011. Available from http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/poverty/2011/2/14/38596/Dominican-tourism-redistributes-poverty-report-says [Accessed 2 March 2011]. Report was not published online, but instead a brief summary of key findings.

For more on how diasporic identities are being privileged and exploited in the (re)development and marketing of tourism products in Mexico, see Graeme Evans 2004, for Israel see Collins-Kreiner and Olsen 2005, for Ghana see Hosley 2007. Perhaps it may be desirable to replicate the Mexican Paisano program. Established by the government in 1989, the Paisano Program has over 21 departments and offices in both the United States and Mexico that keeps diasporan Mexicans aware of events in the country and facilitates their travel back to the homeland, see http://www.paisano.gob.mx.

While youth are only a subset of the diasporic population, they represent a critical target market that would ensure the continuity of diasporic travel.

The Young Explorers programme launched in Trinidad and Tobago may be something that can be tailored to suit a diasporic tourist market centred on instilling a sense of national pride and knowledge about the culture and history of specific communities in the country. See www.caribbeanyoungexplorers.com. The travels of the young explores were part of a television series and now all 13 episodes are available on DVD.

For more information on convention and event tourism in the Dominican Republic, see http://www.cvent.com/en/destination-guide/dominican-republic/meetings.shtml.

For more on the mission and efforts of the ‘Dominican Week’, see http://dominicanweekusa.com/testimonies.html.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yanique Hume

Yanique Hume is a Lecturer in Cultural Studies, University of the West Indies – Cave Hill Campus, where she specializes in migration, diaspora studies and Caribbean cultural thought.