Global editors of National Geographic Travel have announced the 25 destinations they consider to be on the rise for 2021 across five areas, including Adventure, Culture and History, Nature, Family and Sustainability, with the Caribbean island of Dominica (aka the ‘nature isle’) selected for its adventure tourism that has simultaneously helped to fuel its climate resiliency.
This recent acknowledgment of Dominica as a destination of the future comes on the back of the Financial Times predicting Dominica to be one of the top 20 most attractive locations for investment in the future, according to its fDi tourism locations of the future 2019-2020, published in December 2019.
And it’s not difficult to see why. Nestled between Martinique and Guadeloupe, and known to be the 10th least-populated nation on Earth, this tiny island is making waves globally with its focus on eco-tourism and its investment in sustainable practices. In fact, Dominica, known as the ‘nature isle’, is well on its way to fulfilling its ambition to become “the world’s first climate-resilient nation” as pledged by the country’s Prime Minster, Roosevelt Skerrit following 2017’s Hurricane Maria.
From its development of renewable energy and organic agriculture, to sustainable infrastructure and spotlight on ecotourism, Dominica is delivering, making both its existing tourism investments more robust and embracing only investments that fit with its sustainable principles.
In recent years, the island has become a burgeoning eco tourist destination, attracting eco and adventure tourists with its lush rainforests, waterfalls and volcanoes and offering various eco-lodges and resorts to accommodate.
And National Geographic has acknowledged all of these achievements and offerings in its recent announcement of Dominica as one of the top 25 destinations on the rise for 2021.
While Dominica was highlighted within the Adventure section of this report, due to its many nature-based activities, the National Geographic team praised Dominica’s continued fight against climate change and its embrace of sustainability. They highlighted how Hurricane Maria caused destruction on the island in 2017 and how post-hurricane, “nature bounced, residents rebuilt, and the government resolved to make Dominica the world’s first climate-resilient nation”.
National Geographic went on to explain exactly what Dominica has managed to achieve despite the adversities the country has faced. “It requires not only hurricane-proof buildings but also a diverse economy, including a tourism sector that attracts more high-end spenders and an agricultural system that grows a variety of fruits and vegetables eaten locally. Adventure tourism plays a huge role in the climate resiliency push by creating jobs and an economic incentive to restore and protect Dominica’s greatest natural resource — its wild side.”
National Geographic praised Dominica for utilising its natural surroundings to boost its economy in a sustainable way, rather than creating something new, describing the country’s leafy rainforest as a “thrill-seeker’s dream collection of natural marvels” including “nine active volcanoes, 365 rivers, towering waterfalls, black sand beaches, and blistering-hot geothermal features like Boiling Lake, a flooded fumarole with water temperatures nearing 93.3C”.
A significant fact in Dominica’s ability to rebuild its economy since the devastation of Hurricane Maria, and to rebuild it sustainably in a way that is good for nature and for its citizens, has been the country’s long-running and highly successful Citizenship by Investment Programme, which has accrued 1.2 billion dollars since 2017.
Revenues accrued from the CBI Programme been used to fund the economic sustainable development of the country (investors can choose to donate US$100,000 into the country’s Economic Diversification Fund in exchange for citizenship), including the building of hurricane-proof infrastructure. They have also been used to invest in the country’s eco-tourism sector delivering a growing number of eco resorts and hotels (investors can choose to invest in a government-approved property, most of which are eco resorts and hotels, for a minimum of US$200,000).
And the government-approved real estate investments for its Citizenship by investment programme all attest to this commitment to eco-tourism and sustainability with the Jungle Bay Eco Villas (set to complete by 2021) and the award-winning Secret Bay Resort (set to unveil new investable villas this month).
Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme
Ranked the world’s best CBI Programme for the fourth consecutive year, according to the latest CBI Index 2020, Dominica’s longstanding Citizenship by Investment programme, at 27 years old, is widely considered to be one of the world’s most efficient and transparent CIPs, combining extensive due diligence with efficiency, speed, affordability and reliability.
Offering rapid relocation, with just 45-60 days application processing times, and the cheapest CBI cost at US$100,000 (along with Saint Lucia and Antigua & Barbuda), Dominica’s CBI programme is not just competitive, it’s winning.
Recently, Dominica extended its ‘dependent’ clause in its CBI Programme to include a wider range of family members, including grandparents and adopted siblings. Dominica furthermore reduced the qualifying fund contribution for a family of four from US$200,000 to US$175,000, comprising the main applicant, their spouse and two dependants other than a sibling.
A Dominican passport gives citizens visa-free access to 141 countries, slightly less than other Caribbean countries, though Dominica has seen the greatest increase in visa-free offerings since 2019 compared to the other CBI countries, and is set to add China to its list. And, as per the just-released Henley & Partners Passport Index 2020 for Q4, Dominica has moved up two places in the passport power ranks from its position in Q1, to 33rd in the world.
Find out more about Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme with our country profile by clicking here