Above: Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina aboard the Explorer of the Seas

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina held talks Tuesday morning with executives from Royal Caribbean International aboard the Explorer of the Seas ship in Samana.

At the meeting, Royal Caribbean vice president Michael Ronan presented the company’s deployment strategy for the coming years, one which reportedly includes the possibility of increasing arrivals to the area.

“I want to work together in order that they can bring more tourists and bring more people to benefit from tourism,” Median said, promising that the government would do “whatever is necessary” to support cruise tourism.

Medina said he wanted to convert the Dominican Republic into the main Caribbean cruise terminal.

According to Ronan, Royal is ready to work with Dominican authorities in transforming Samana to help the area receive more cruise passengers.

Also at the meeting, Federico Schad, of Bahia Cruise Services, offered details of a project to build a new dock in an area of 50,000 square metres next to Samana’s existing pier.

It will reportedly be operational for the 2013-2014 season.

Samana’s star in the Dominican Republic’s tourism sector is growing. Last week, JetBlue announced that it would soon be launching service to Samana from New York’s John F Kennedy Airport.