Collado opens Emprendedores fair with 80 young exhibitors and $3 million in prizes

Tourism Minister David Collado opened the tenth edition of the Emprendedores fair on Wednesday at the Downtown Center shopping mall in Santo Domingo. The event brought together more than 80 young exhibitors competing for the José Luis Corripio Estrada award, worth three million pesos. US Ambassador Leah Campos attended alongside business leaders Ligia Bonetti and Manuel Corripio, as reported by Actualidad Diaria RD.

The fair, driven by Medios Emprendedores, reaches its tenth edition as a consolidated platform for showcasing and selling young ventures. Collado, who balances his MITUR role with running the initiative, urged participants to build their own doors when others close. Bonetti, head of the Sociedad Industrial Dominicana, stressed the commitment to Dominican talent, and Manuel Corripio accepted the recognition on behalf of his father, Pepín Corripio. Banco Popular president Manuel Grullón Hernández was also honored for his career.

The takeaway for the tourism sector is straightforward. The Dominican Republic is posting record visitor numbers, but the local value chain still rests on small suppliers: artisans, food trucks, souvenir makers, independent guides. A fair that connects 80 of those projects with top-tier business figures and a foreign embassy is not a ceremonial act, it is a distribution channel. In May, the MITUR's muscle was already visible at international fairs such as Houston, where Collado took the country brand alongside American Airlines. The difference here is that the focus is on the bottom link, the one that supplies hotels in Bávaro and Punta Cana.

The three million peso prize is no symbolic figure for a Dominican entrepreneur. It is real seed capital, and backing from names like Corripio or Bonetti opens financing and mentoring doors that are hard to find in a conventional round. The challenge is that those 80 exhibitors do not stay at the event. The opportunity is for hoteliers and tour operators to see their next local supplier portfolio there, with a direct impact on the visitor experience and on the income that stays in the country.

Two things are worth watching. First, how many of the showcased projects sign contracts with hotel chains or with MITUR itself for events and fairs. Second, whether the fair is replicated outside Santo Domingo, in provinces where tourism generates revenue but entrepreneurship lacks the same showcase. That is the quality leap the sector can push for.