Resort Development Keeps Coming

Yes lots of new development  going on. Numbers of visitors keeps growing!

Club Med, Playa Esmeralda, Miches is to be opened on 23rd November this year with 327 rooms and villas.

https://www.arecoa.com/hoteles/2019/07/ … noviembre/

This is a lovely part of DR which is more accessible these days with the upgraded road from Bavaro. I am grateful to have been on gorgeous Playa Esmeralda before any development, and can also say that about Grace Bay, Providenciales, before we broke ground on the Club Med there in 1983.

https://youtu.be/kISmhSu5COUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kISmhSu5COU

It is a far cry from the Club Med I knew when younger with rooms made so small with the intent you spend little time in them.

Caso De Campo have posted they plan to develop 800 rooms in two hotels (one for families and one for adults) under another brand yet to be decided, in Bayahibe:

https://www.arecoa.com/hoteles/2019/08/ … tra-marca/

So many resorts they are running out of names:  Pure Salt Orchidarium?  Really?  Such a lovely name certain to attract guests.

Some day I might have to go down there and take a look despite my promise to myself that I would not ever venture down that way again.

Yup the name sucks in English!

https://www.arecoa.com/destinos/2019/08 … n-destino/

A new website with the aim of promoting Puerto Plata tourism:

https://www.puertoplataclick.com/

Appears to be in development.......

lennoxnev wrote:

Club Med, Playa Esmeralda, Miches is to be opened on 23rd November this year with 327 rooms and villas.

https://www.arecoa.com/hoteles/2019/07/ … noviembre/

This is a lovely part of DR which is more accessible these days with the upgraded road from Bavaro. I am grateful to have been on gorgeous Playa Esmeralda before any development, and can also say that about Grace Bay, Providenciales, before we broke ground on the Club Med there in 1983.

https://youtu.be/kISmhSu5COUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kISmhSu5COU

It is a far cry from the Club Med I knew when younger with rooms made so small with the intent you spend little time in them.

In the case of the people going from Santo Domingo the best way to get there is taking the road to El Seibo and from there to Miches.

The Hilton La Romana (Bayahibe) is undergoing remodelling and is due to be re-opened at the end of the year and this time will be split into an adult only and family orientated hotels.

Great location on Playa Bayahibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIW20ilywekhttps://www.google.com/maps/place/Bayah … 68.7512681https://www.arecoa.com/hoteles/2019/08/ … ales-2019/

There have been loads of new developments announced in recent months and the tourism industry is continuing to grow especially on the East Coast. visito numbers are climbing back to normal too.

The announcement of ground breaking to two large resorts in Miches is however very significant.

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/tourism/2020/02/06/amresort-to-build-two-us400m-hotels-in-miches/

Miches, Dominican Republic.- President Danilo Medina on Wed. headed groundbreaking for the construction of the Secrets and Dreams hotels of the AMResort chain on Costa Esmeralda beach, Miches township, eastern  El Seibo province.

The resorts of 500 rooms each to be built at a cost of over US$400 million will create more than 1,000 jobs in the area.

The Head of State was accompanied by Apple Leisure Croup executives, in the event attended by renowned hoteliers, senior Govt. officials and local business leaders.

The resorts’ inaugural is set for yearend 2021.

https://www.arecoa.com/hoteles/2020/02/ … s-dolares/

After the recent opening of Club Med, this probably confirms a very bright future for the Miches coastline with the developer being Apple Leisure Group a US registered company whilst Club Med is owned by the Fosun Group from China.

So glad I was on the lovely Playa Esmeralda without development a few years ago with my wife. Such a beautiful area imo.

With all these planned resort developments on the East Coast, the Arisa Group has today announced plans to build a new international airport 12 km from Punta Cana which already has two runways and two terminals and is planning a third and cargo terminal plus will have US pre-clearance later this year which means all the US airlines will fly there for certain.

Seem quite a strange decision to make an intial investment of 200 million dollars being so close to PUJ (and not so far away La Romana) which has all the needed capacity for years to come.

Anyhow enjoy the video presentation:

https://youtu.be/9KzRQFeDSjA

........ news hasn't made it to arecoa .com yet....just the local news

https://www.google.com/search?q=Abrisa+ … p;ie=UTF-8

I find this fascinating but don't quite understand why we need another one!

Meanwhile we North Coasters pay through the nose for flights.

It's supply and demand and the internal costs of that airport!

The news of the favourable recommendation for an international airport at Bavaro has not been widely reported yet but an article has today appeared in mainstream press, Listin Diario. Nothing has appeared in the Ministry of Tourism websites yet for such a significant tourism infrastructure investment, which is odd.

https://listindiario.com/economia/2020/ … -en-bavaro

But perhaps it is not all green light yet if you read what Listin Diario writes:

Con esta recomendación favorable de la Comisión Aeroportuaria, organismo especializado del Estado, la resolución será remitida al Poder Ejecutivo para su consideración.

It still has to go to the Executive for consideration........

Now getting US pre-clearance at PUJ later this year is going to be the most important tourism development for the East Coast and DR, so whatever happens this could only be initially a secondary airport in the area for international traffic and unlikely to attract any US flights unless the same facility is available in the future years - and Americans represent the bulk of tourists to the East Coast.

Is it going to be an international airport for the same people associated with a large Macao development with tall towers?

I read the new airport came with pre-approved US flights. 

And my guess.is the "executive" approval has already been purchased.

This will be interesting to watch.

Getting US Homeland Security pre-clearance without an operational airport is pie in the sky speculation. Very few airports worldwide have got that after years of trying and PUJ has been going through hoops for some time to get it.

There is a lot of politics involved here with two moguls pitted against each other and election year. Yes it will be interesting to follow developments.

I wasnt talking about Homeland security honey.  I was referring to airlines confirming and commiting to using the new airport

One interesting other factor in play is that the new airport's planned location and orientation is such that aircraft taking off will fly over the many resorts currently in Bavaro (the airports runways are orientated to the prevailing wind as explained in the video and its location a short distance from the Bavaro resorts is evident on the same video at about 2.12).

If this development has got EIA, environmental impact approval, they obviously had zero consideration for flight path impacts on existing communities and resorts.

As mentioned, perhaps some 'oiling of the wheels' has taken place for such a seemingly unnecessary additional airport proposal to have got this far.

Yes I saw that and wondered about it as well!  That will cause serious amounts of complaints!

lennoxnev wrote:

One interesting other factor in play is that the new airport's planned location and orientation is such that aircraft taking off will fly over the many resorts currently in Bavaro (the airports runways are orientated to the prevailing wind as explained in the video and its location a short distance from the Bavaro resorts is evident on the same video at about 2.12).

If this development has got EIA, environmental impact approval, they obviously had zero consideration for flight path impacts on existing communities and resorts.

As mentioned, perhaps some 'oiling of the wheels' has taken place for such a seemingly unnecessary additional airport proposal to have got this far.

Bedside that they mention some cities with 2 airports but the truth is those cities has more than one airport because there is not more space where to expand and is necesary to have another one, and those city are really very big ones,  and Punta Cana is very far away to get to that point.

It seems that its not important -  different owners. Its all about  profit!

planner wrote:

It seems that its not important -  different owners. Its all about  profit!

We will see if they build it and get that profit.  Good point.

We shall see - yup!