Frank and Haydee Rainieri, founders of Puntacana Resort & Club, will be honored during the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference scheduled for 4-6 May 2010 in Puerto Rico. The Rainieris will receive the Bill Bissell Lifetime Achievement Award that honors individuals who have made a difference in the industry through their actions, contributions and great lifetime accomplishments in the Caribbean and beyond.

“Frank and Haydee’s impact on Caribbean tourism – as well as their work on sustainability issues, social reform and education – is well known and is deserving of the entire region’s respect,” said Enrique De Marchena Kaluche, President of CHTA.

“The Caribbean owes a huge debt of gratitude to Frank Rainieri who founded the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) and served as our chairman for the first several years,” said Sir Royston O. Hopkin, KCMG, CAST’s current chairman.

Frank Rainieri is a renowned leader and visionary in the Dominican Republic and the Greater Caribbean. He is credited with pioneering the Punta Cana region’s tourism product and developing Puntacana Resort & Club from 10 small bungalows in 1971 into one of the most exclusive and elegant tourist retreats in present day Dominican Republic. Haydee Rainieri is the current president of the National Association of Hotels & Restaurants (Asonahores).

Tropicalia Foundation president William R. Phelan took the oath from Network president Julio V. Brache and other partners in the Santo Domingo offices of RENAEPA, a prestigious grouping of important local and international companies, whose objective is the defense and protection of Dominican Republic’s natural resources through actions to spur sustainable growth.

Phelan said its commitment with the network Tropicalia Foundation affirms that its programs support Tropicalia’s RSE strategy for Miches’ sustainable development and community integration, and to protect the zone’s natural resources. “Tropicalia Foundation’s participation in RENAEPA means a great opportunity to learn, to share and promote business good practices, among them transparency, social responsibility and sustainable development in the Dominican Republic.”

Ferran Adria, who will start teaching a course in culinary physics at Harvard University beginning in fall 2010, recently announced that he will open a new nonprofit educational foundation in 2014 that will strive over the long-term to create an “exhaustive and detailed” encyclopedia of contemporary cuisine.

Members of the association are: the hotels Dreams La Romana, Oasis Canoa, Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach, Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace, Catalonia Gran Dominicus, Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus, Casa de Campo, La Estancia Golf Resort, Bahia Principe Nueva Playa La Romana, Cadaques Caribe, and also the La Romana International Airport, the Casa de Campo Touristic Port, the Bayahibe Electricity Company, Dominicus Americanus Ltd. real estate developer, Restaurante Lagos and Tropical Tours.

On the agenda is the implementation of social corporate responsibility programs to reach out to the community, and the promotion of waste disposal, forestation and training programs.
On the new board of director for 2010-2012 are:
- President: Casa de Campo (Luis Emilio Rodriguez)
- Vice President: Oasis Canoa (Pablo Jaureguizar)
- Secretary: Viva Wyndham Resorts (Massimo Carugati)
- Treasurer: Catalonia Gran Dominicus (Ivan Cunillera)
- Member: Iberostar Dominicus Hacienda (Yves Colman)
- Representative of the Non-Hotel Sector: Compania Electrica de Bayahibe (Antonio Martorell)
- Representative for the La Romana Bayahibe Tourism Cluster: Tropical Tours (Daniel Flaquer)

Under the subject “Tourism Clusters of  Sustainable and Competitive World Class”, the conference welcomes professionals of the cluster area, investigators, international experts and professionals of the tourism area from all over the world, to discuss the major issues and latest trends in the promotion of competitiveness through local development and clusters.

According to Andres Van der Horst, the director of the CNC –the global entity responsible for sponsoring the event–, “the TCI is the leading global network for professionals, policy makers, researchers and business leaders who are working towards improving competitiveness in regions and groups.”

The CNC provides technical and financial support to 21 clusters in the Dominican Republic that have to do with manufacturing, tourism and agribusiness, among other economic areas.

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.

Built on 25 acres of ocean-side property, The Cliffs Ocean Resort will include a spa, two salt-water infinity pools overlooking the Caribbean Sea along with a Beach Club that offers the bar and cigar lounge. The club also consists of a food and beverage outlet and area for teenagers.

The resort has 24-hour room service, a fitness center, helipad, and commercial shopping area. There is also a golf practice facility, sports center with tennis courts, and equestrian center. The Cliffs Ocean Resort is only 40 miles from Puerto Plata International Airport which has daily international flights to and from the United States.

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.”

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 .

He said his visit to Italy, where he took part in the 30th International Tourism Market (BIT-2010), is the starting point for the arrival of Italian tourists to Dominican Republic resumes its previous leadership. “We want Italian tourists to visit us, to observe the important investments the government and the private sector have made in the tourism regions such as Samaná, Puerto Plata, Bavaro and Punta Cana.”

Garcia said the designation of Santo Domingo as the American Culture Capital in 2010 is another added value to the Dominican destination.