DR1 Travel News - 25 April 2017

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Macorix House of Rum: Puerto Plata’s newest attraction
Bachata at the Puerto Plata Amphitheater
Tourism Minister forecasts 80,000 hotel rooms in 2017
PGA Tour in Punta Cana



Macorix House of Rum: Puerto Plata’s newest attraction
Macorix House of Rum is now open at centrally located Ave. Francisco Alberto Caamaño 89 in Puerto Plata city. The museum is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm. 

The new cultural center should be on the checklist of tourists visiting Puerto Plata. Learn about how quality rum is made from sugar cane, including fermentation and distilling processes and how it is aged in oak barrels. Learn about how Macorix rum was first made in the 1920s. 

The museum is open to the general public. Self-guided tours are easy – given the layout of the museum. Guided tours cost US$4 and include the tasting of the different Macorix rums manufactured by Vinícola del Norte. Guided tours to the museum can be arranged with Carola Ramos at Tel 809 683-4656, or contacting her through the Vinicola website at http://www.vinicola.com.do 

The rums are sold at a store on the premises.

Macorix Rum was founded by the Carrión family in 1899 in southeastern San Pedro de Macorís, a city known as a town of poets, craftsmen, baseball players and sugar cane. The name of the rum comes from the Macorix indians that inhabited the island. 

Vinícola del Norte is the third largest rum manufacturer in the country, after the brands Brugal and Barceló.  


Bachata at the Puerto Plata Amphitheater
Do not miss the Raulín Rodríguez bachata music concert on Saturday, 27 May 2017 at the La Puntilla Amphitheater of Puerto Plata, adjacent to the San Felipe Fort. Rodríguez will be singing his 20 best bachatas on occasion of Mother’s Day, that will be celebrated on Sunday, 28 May in the Dominican Republic. This is a production by Emporio Luis Medrano. 

The amphitheater has a set program of a major show every last Saturday of the month. 


Tourism Minister forecasts 80,000 hotel rooms in 2017
The fastest growing destination in Central America and the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic could have more than 80,000 hotel rooms by the end of the year, says Tourism Minister Francisco Javier García. García said on average 5,000 hotel rooms have been added over the past years. In 2016, 5,470 new rooms entered the market. Most of these hotel rooms have been opened in Punta Cana. 

García said that while the increase in hotel rooms is a usual indicator of tourism development, in the case of the Dominican Republic, the occupancy percentage has increased to 87%. In Puerto Plata, occupancy is estimated to be 90%. 

He highlighted the improvement in the hotel room occupancy in the Colonial City that is now at 74%, up from 50% over the past years. 

García told the audience of the American Chamber of Commerce luncheon event that the industry generated US$6.72 billion last year. 

He said the industry has grown 137% since year 2000. “More tourists are coming, and they are spending more money,” he said. More than 6 million tourists arrived in 2016, for a 101% increase since year 2000. 

He highlighted maritime visits have also been extraordinary, with 836,000 passengers visiting in 2016. He said first quarter statistics already show an increase in cruise ship passengers of 37%. 


PGA Tour in Punta Cana
For the first time, the Dominican Republic will host the US-PGA Tour in March 2018. Puntacana Resort & Club will be the host for the event. The tournament will be played 19-25 March at the Tom Fazio-designed Corales Golf Course.

This May 2017 Corales is hosting the Web.com tournament, the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, the developmental tour of the PGA Tour. The tournament runs from Thursday, 4 May to Sunday 7 May 2017 in Punta Cana. The web.com tour features professional golfers who are not at PGA Tour level. It is regarded as the PGA’s satellite tour. 

For 2018, the Web.com stop in Punta Cana will transition to The PGA Tour. When the PGA Tour debuts from 19-25 March 2018, on the same week the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play will offer 300 FedExCup points to the winner. The event will carry a purse of at least US$3 million.

Grupo Puntacana, which owns and operates Puntacana Resort & Club, signed a four-year agreement to serve as the host organization. 

http://www.pgatour.com/webcom/tournaments/corales-puntacana-resort-and-club-championship.html
http://www.pgatour.com/news/2017/04/18/Puntacana-moving-pga-tour-2018.html