Dominican Republic’s President supports the UNWTO IE University Tourism Online Academy, signing agreement for 300 scholarships in tourism management

Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, today visited IE Tower, IE University’s new Madrid campus, to sign an agreement for 300 scholarships on the UNWTO IE University Tourism Online Academy, the tourism management digital training platform launched by the UNWTO and IE University.

This scholarship program, to be managed by the Ministry of Tourism of the Government of the Dominican Republic, will train managers interested in taking the MOOC Introduction To Tourism Industry Management designed by the UNWTO IE University Tourism Online Academy.

Welcoming President Abinader, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili praised his Government’s commitment to tourism, noting that the Dominican Republic was one of the first destinations to re-open its borders, a move that protected many thousands of jobs and helped kickstart economic recovery.

Zurab Pololikashvili added: “Everybody should be able to learn the knowledge and the skills they need to work in tourism and be part of our sector’s future. The 300 scholarship holders from the Dominican Republic will help further establish the country as one of the leading tourism destinations in the world – as well as a key ally of UNWTO in the Americas.”

The scholarship program signing event was attended by Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University, who highlighted “the extraordinary contribution of tourism not only to the economic growth of vacation destinations and source markets, but also to the well-being of everyone.”

“The tourism sector will continue to grow strongly after the pandemic and a key element of that growth will be the training of tourism professionals. There are few industries with as much capacity to contribute to growth and the distribution of global wealth as tourism.”
Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University

The UNWTO IE University Online Tourism Academy has already trained 15,000 students from around the world in tourism business management, industry sustainability, cultural and historical heritage management, technology, operations, marketing and communication, and comparative industry legislation, among others. The platform, promoted by UNWTO and IE University, has six new academic partners that include prestigious organizations such as the Swiss Education Group, Sommet, the Basque Culinary Center, Northwestern University, Chile’s Pontificia Universidad Católica and Bilkent University.