Dominican Tourism

Miami-based Desires Hotels announced the latest international addition to its boutique collection, The Cliffs Ocean Resort, which is situated between Puerto Plata and Samana along the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The project is the first in the Dominican Republic to be LEED certified and is set to open in summer 2011.

Room amenities at the resort include large living areas and private terraces with views to the ocean and the mountains. The Cliffs Ocean Resort’s initial 102 rooms mark the first phase of development in which guests will enjoy the resort’s close proximity to great golf at the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed Playa Grande Golf Course. (more…)

Around 15,000 foreign tourists and new species have visited the Marine Mammal Sanctuary in Samaná (Dominican northeast) since January 15, in the current humpback whale watching season, the Environment Ministry said today.

The figure is 30 percent higher than the first weeks of the 2009 season, and sets a record in attendance, said Whale Observation Program local coordinator Peter Sanchez in a statement.

Hundreds of humpback whales come to Samaná Bay every year from Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the United States north coast, to mate and give birth.

Sanchez added other species have also been observed that in the current season such as sperm whales and sharks, “which means that the safety and quality of the ecosystem make these species feel safe and remain in the country’s Marine Mammals Sanctuary.”

The ambitious Century Grand Constanza project of development and environmental protection will be built at a cost of US$10 million, and its promoters call a sustainable tourism model which will benefit the municipality.

Maximo Brito, director of the office in Puerto Rico responsible for the construction of the project in Constanza (center), said it will be developed in three years and will be the most innovative ecotourism project ever conceived in the country’s North region and will be a model ecological and retirement city for Dominicans and foreigners.

“The zone needs the protection of its environment and the investors from New York and London such as Sergio Pino, president of Century Home Builder, agreed that it’s essential to protect the zone and conserve its biodiversity,” Brito said.

Milan.- The Minister of Tourism signed agreements to bolster cooperation with major Italian tour operators and airlines, to strengthen and expand the diversity of the Dominican Republic destination in that European nation.

Francisco Javier Garcia signed agreements with Nardo Filipetti, president of Eden Viaggi; Franco Pecci, head of the Blue-Panorama charter airline; and executives of the Alpitourworld group, to boost the number of travelers to the Dominican Republic .

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MICHES, Dominican Republic.- Tropicalia, a sustainable, ecologically responsible, high luxury and low density tourism project of the Cisneros Organization in Dominican Republic, was presented to the community Miches in its first town hall meeting.

Present in the activity, with around 170 citizens interested in the project present and held in the Miches City Council were the project’s promoters; representatives and technicians of the consulting firm ECOMAR, contracted for the Environmental Impact Evaluation; authorities and representatives of the municipal organizations and its districts El Cedro and La Gina.

The Tropicalia project, to be developed in three stages within 20 years counts on a global investment of US$2.0 billion, and will create more than 3,000 jobs in its first stage and around 14,000 when concluded.

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Cabarete.– The Olympics of the ocean, the ultimate watersports triathlon, comes once again to Cabarete (north), where the “Master of the Ocean” event bring the best all-around national and foreign athletes in kiteboarding, surfing and windsurfing.

Regarded as one of the most important and pioneering competitions of its type, “Master of the Ocean,” returns with more excitement, waves and acrobatic jumps in its 8th edition, to be held from 23-28 February.

Cabarete, a small, laid-back Caribbean beach village located on the northern shore of the Dominican Republic, is notorious for its incomparable kitesurfing conditions.  

BARAHONA. –  The top priority for Dominican Republic’s Southwest is new jobs, for which Catholic Diocese Bishop monsignor Rafael Leonidas Felipe Núñez places hopes on the dam at Monte Grande and tourism development.

The prelate’s call has been echoed by other church and community leaders in the southwest for years, and even led to the construction of the Maria Montez International Airport in the late 1990s, which has never serviced regular airline flights in 20 years.

He said a nation lives and develops when its inhabitants can work, for which companies and institutions need to be created. “The Enriquillo region has one of the highest unemployment rates and therefore with the lowest percentage as a source of jobs.”

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