Confusing the enemy?

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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I've lived on the east coast for nearly two years but it still is a confusing place to navigate at times. Place names, for one thing. Our local town Ver?n is alternately spelt as Ber?n. The local s?ndica is the owner of a company called Ber?n Taxi but calls herself "Mar?a Ver?n" for campaign purposes.

Looking at the new residential developments one would think there is a strictly limited name quota. Almost every one of them includes the word B?varo, Punta, Cana - we have Pueblo B?varo, Residencial Punta Cana-B?varo, Punta Cana Village and a new one called Punta B?varo. Punta Cana, Cap Cana, Vista Cana...

Maybe you have to pay extra for calling your project something daringly different like Cueva Ta?na or Cocotal?

I know these are marketing decisions aimed at riding the wave of the Punta Cana/B?varo magic but it is downright confusing. There are one or two other combinations that as far as I know still haven't been used, but it's just a matter of time before a B?varo Cana or a Cap B?varo springs up.

The hotels are no better. Yesterday evening we had to deliver some photos to a guest at one of the B?varo hotels. When we had asked him to be more specific he just looked at his bracelet and confidently pronounced "Barcel? Premium!"

We also have the eternal confusion between the exclusive "Corales" (where Julio, Oscar and co live) and the more down to earth "Los Corales", site of our favourite restaurant BaliCana (even they're at it). People think we're shameless namedropping social climbers when we mention we had dinner at "Los Corales".

We drove up to the main Barcel? complex (the one with about 5 hotels and a convention centre) and told the security guys we were heading for the "Barcel? Premium" - they shook their heads and said the "Premium" was 15 miles to the north, past the Punta Blanca golf club.

We cursed and made the trip, and when we arrived at the hotel, which was called Barcel? Punta Cana Premium even though it is 30 kms north of Punta Cana, we phoned the client - "we're in the reception" - "so am I" he said. But turns out he was in fact 15 kilometres to the south, at the Barcel? Palace Premium, which is the one right next to the convention centre.

"This happens all the damn time", said the nice lady at reception, with an air of sympathetic resignation.

I'm sure it goes down a treat with hotel guests who have just driven all the way from Santo Domingo, or foreign tourists who intrepidly rent a car or extravagantly take a taxi from Punta Cana airport. Maybe the hotel security guards do it to amuse themselves, or could it be, as a friend suggested, "the result of 500 years of eating pl?tanos".

Or are they just out to confuse the enemy?
 
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Chip

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You missing the point Chiri. When a Dominican gets lost it's just another excuse to socialize and party more, dame un tragito. We're just not in a hurry here.

BTW, what the matter with platano, to' lo dia, to' lo dia, to' lo dia?
 

AlterEgo

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Wonderful story Chiri, sounds like an Andy Rooney piece. I love it!!

It also would have fit seamlessly into the "Only in the DR" thread :cheeky:

AE
 

NALs

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Jan 20, 2003
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Regarding the names of real estate projects/service companies, etc; for the most part its simply a marketing gimmick.

For example, the region is marketed as Punta Cana and perhaps 99% of tourists are not aware that the only time they are actually in Punta Cana are the times they are at the airport!

This happens in other places too.

For example, La Romana seems to have expanded beyond its borders. Most of the tourists that opt to vacation in 'La Romana' in actuality do so in Bayahibe, which aside from not being part of the municipality of La Romana, its not even in the province of the same name.

There is a new real estate project being developed in the Rio Soco area currently being marketed as Playa Nueva Romana, and in the promotional materials it says that it's in La Romana. The reality is that it's not in La Romana, its in the province of San Pedro de Macor?s; but San Pedro doesn't sell, La Romana has more cache hence the name.
 

Robert

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Punta Cana just a brand name, not an actual mapped location?

I'm trying to recall if that was the reason "Punta Cana Resort" changed their name to "Puntacana Resort" a few years back.

I guess I should ask Dolores or look in our own archives in the office, as we have 30yrs worth of the "Santo Domingo News" (print newspaper) here :)
 

Chirimoya

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Punta Cana is the name given to the area where the original Punta Cana resort and Club Med were built. It was originally called Punta Borrach?n (Drunkard's Point) according to this article on the history of the area. The Punta Cana group registered Puntacana (one word) as a brand name at a later stage.

Punta Cana History | punta cana tv
 

Lambada

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So, presumably, the only way you can be certain of being in the right place to meet someone is to have both of you wearing portable GPS units and track each other's movements..............? :cheeky:

Sounds like a marketing opportunity, DR1 Special Tracking Devices (not to be abbreviated!).
 

pedrochemical

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Punta Cana is the name given to the area where the original Punta Cana resort and Club Med were built. It was originally called Punta Borrach?n (Drunkard's Point) according to this article on the history of the area. The Punta Cana group registered Puntacana (one word) as a brand name at a later stage.

Punta Cana History | punta cana tv


That is what I was told by an old drunk bloke when I was in Veron, or was it Beron...
He said that Punta Cana did not exist until a generation ago and now it refers to an area....

Sadly, when some Americans go on Holiday to the D.R. they refer to the whole country as Punta Cana... Yikes!
 

Chirimoya

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pedrochemical said:
Sadly, when some Americans go on Holiday to the D.R. they refer to the whole country as Punta Cana... Yikes!
In Spain some travel agency ads promote AI packages to "B?varo" without mentioning which country it happens to be in. At most, they put "Caribe".

"Se?or Rainieri wisely decided to rename it Punta Cana." What a crock of caca mal cagada, caramba! Diablo! The things we read on the Internets!
So it was always known as Punta Cana?

Chiri, it's a pleasure to read you. See you soon. En Dominicano: casimente 'toy all?.
FSM willing:)
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Regarding the names of real estate projects/service companies, etc; for the most part its simply a marketing gimmick.
I acknowledged that in my post, but IMO it backfires dismally when people are given the runaround because so many hotels and residential complexes have interchangeable names.

They can give their developments more distinctive names and there's nothing to stop them from using the B?varo or Punta Cana names as their location.

I notice that prospective visitors sometimes ask about the "city" or "city centre" of Punta Cana or B?varo when it's really a large sprawling area (stretching 40-odd kms from Cap Cana to Macao) with a few more urbanised commercial and residential areas like Cortecito and Friusa - which could hardly be described as cities.

Bit like the tourists in Oxford who ask "where's the university?"
 

dulce

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Also a bit like Boca Chica and Juan Dolio being promoted as Santo Domingo in the early days. The first time I vacationed in JD I thought I was in SD.
 
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? bient?t

Guest
So "Rainieri wisely renamed the area Punta Cana," huh?

Well, it's Mother's Day, so who did I call, di'que pa' salud?? Yes, I called a historian friend of mine: Feliz dia en su dia, mi do?a.

(Desde que yo tengo uso de raz?n, he oido Punta Cana. And that's way before Rainieri and company took land from campesinos who had spent an eternity en los cocotales del ?rea. Yes, siree, and it's no secret in Hig?ey. And "took" is a fancy word.)

So, after giving excuses for not calling often, I asked her about PC. And the rest is her story:

"El dominicano es relamb?o." No, but it's written in English, for the foreign market, I think. "No importa que est? en ingl?s. Eso es el dominicano de adul?n, siempre para ver qu? consigue..."

We spoke for over 35 minutes, then I had to go.

But I shouldn't be surprised at the so-called history of Punta Cana, as told by Rainieri and company: I happen to own copies of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and an English translation of the Holy Qur'an. The big difference here: there are hundreds, if not thousands, of folks still in the region who know PC's recent--and accurate--history. And some are actual historians que est?n vivito y coliando en Hig?ey. But the damage has been done, especially when the foreign audience loves romanticized versions of events, reminiscing of ESPN's love affair with DR's baseball players and the fact that they "have to swing for the long ball, since it's the only way out of the island."
 
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KateP

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So are you saying that Punta Cana was NOT called Punta Borrach?n before Don Frank had the road built from Higuey so that every hotel now existing could benefit from it? Whether or not it was him doesn't take away the fact that he is in part responsible for everything that's happened in this area! I personally think if he wants to take the credit for having named PC, he more than deserves it!
 
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? bient?t

Guest
So are you saying that Punta Cana was NOT called Punta Borrach?n before Don Frank had the road built from Higuey so that every hotel now existing could benefit from it? Whether or not it was him doesn't take away the fact that he is in part responsible for everything that's happened in this area! I personally think if he wants to take the credit for having named PC, he more than deserves it!

That will "learn" me. But, first, where are you from and when did you move to the area? You don't have to answer; the "Don" in your post says it all.
 

KateP

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That will "learn" me. But, first, where are you from and when did you move to the area? You don't have to answer; the "Don" in your post says it all.

Katia Pouliot, Canadian, been living in the DR for 14 years, 5 of which have been for "Don Frank" at PUNTACANA Resort & Club. I take it this answers any doubts? :cheeky: