Abinader seals a tourism channel with Venezuela in Rome

President Luis Abinader met in Rome with Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, on the sidelines of the 2026 World Food Forum, held at FAO headquarters. They discussed energy cooperation, consular relations and tourism, and Abinader announced the opening of the Dominican consulate in Venezuela to serve citizens of both countries. Rodríguez confirmed that the Venezuelan mission in Santo Domingo will soon have a designated consul and praised Dominican support after the earthquake. The information was reported by Arecoa.

For Dominican tourism, the move carries a concrete reading. Venezuela was a relevant source market for years for hotels in Santo Domingo and the eastern zone, and the lack of direct flights and consular representation cooled that flow. Reopening the consulate and promising a consul in Santo Domingo unblocks a bottleneck that hit tour operators and agencies: without agile procedures, the Venezuelan traveler thinking about Punta Cana or La Romana hesitates. There is a second lane, energy, which for a destination that depends on fuel to move planes and buses is no small matter.

The regional context helps size the play. Venezuela has limited connectivity with the Caribbean and several airlines have had to look for technical stops to operate routes to Caracas. Any progress on that front is oxygen for the Dominican hub, which aims to capture connecting passengers. In this outlet we have tracked how the country's infrastructure is moving: the remodeling of the La Romana port points to more cruises and the declaration of La Romana as an ecotourism province widens the offer. A Venezuelan who regains purchasing power and easier travel fattens that pie.

The reading is clear: every consulate that reopens and every flight that unblocks is a revenue channel that activates for hotels, tour operators and the treasury. It remains to be seen whether energy cooperation translates into concrete deals that lower operating costs for airlines and whether the Venezuelan consul in Santo Domingo arrives in weeks, not months. That is the calendar worth watching closely.