BHD honors 11 women transforming tourism communities

The Banco Hipotecario Dominicano (BHD) held the eleventh edition of its “Women Who Change the World” award, a gala that honored 11 community leaders from provinces including Azua, Santiago, Santo Domingo, Independencia, Salcedo, Villa Altagracia, Monte Plata and Puerto Plata. The event, led by President Luis Abinader at the Carlos Piantini Hall of the National Theater, recognized contributions in health, community development, inclusion, gender, culture and social action. The top prize, worth 1.5 million pesos, went to doña Juana Mercedes of Monte Plata for 46 years defending rural women's rights and reaching some 16,000 families.

The story has an angle that matters to the tourism sector: several of the honorees operate in provinces with strong hotel and cruise activity. Puerto Plata, for instance, is a key destination for sun-and-beach tourism and cruise calls, and Monte Plata, though less known, is part of the growing rural and excursion tourism map. The BHD recognition, as reported by Listín Diario, shines a light on the social capital that sustains these communities, an asset hoteliers and tour operators should watch closely.

BHD president Steven José Puig Contreras offered a revealing figure: female participation reaches 53% in micro-businesses, but falls to 24% in small companies and 12% in medium-sized ones. That gap matters to tourism, a sector where women have a notable presence across the value chain (from crafts and gastronomy to hotel management), but where the leap to owning formal tourism businesses remains limited. Puig Contreras himself said the bank is fostering conditions for more women to move from entrepreneurs to business owners and from business owners to exporters.

For the Dominican tourism sector, this kind of initiative opens a collaboration path: hotels and resorts can integrate these leaders and their community networks into local supplier programs, authentic tourism experiences and social responsibility projects. The BHD award, with 11 uninterrupted editions, has built a platform that identifies community talent in areas where tourism is an economic engine. The opportunity for operators is clear: these women already have their communities' trust and know the ground. Bringing them into the tourism value chain can improve the visitor experience and strengthen the bond between resort and surroundings.

The reading is straightforward: Dominican tourism that aspires to sustainable growth needs strong local allies. BHD has just pointed to 11 of them. It is worth watching how the hotel sector and tour operators activate those networks in Puerto Plata, Monte Plata and the other recognized provinces.