Punta Cana is growing

More and more friends of mine, in other parts of the country, are either moving to Punta Cana/Bavaro or have emailed me recently asking about opportunities in Punta Cana. I am doing some consultancy work for the Ministry of Tourism and it's really evident just how much Punta Cana is growing as a destination. It bothers me what has happened to Puerto Plata and I hope to help that cause in the future.

I think most people know Punta Cana is growing but here are some recent developments supporting the statement:

1. Colombian Airline, Avianca, has launched a direct flight Bogota - Punta Cana.
2. Gol Airlines in Brazil has increased it's departures from 3 to 5 weekly from Rio to Punta Cana.
3. Salamander Hotels will open a 302 room, high end fishing lodge, in Cap Cana, in 2012.
4. AM Resorts has recently opened Now Larimar and Secrets Royals Beach. They have four more properties slated to open in Cap Cana in 2012 at an investment of 400-million.
5. Sheraton opening Four Points hotel in PuntaCana Village for 2012.
6. The U.S. Embassy will open a Consular Agency in Palma Real Shopping Village. This is to better serve "the growing number of American visitors", as quoted from the embassy website.
7. A new Blue Mall is slated for Punta Cana (not sure when it will open).
8. Brand new San Juan Shopping center with lots of tenants like Super Pola Supermarket, Caribbean Cinemas, Haagen Dazs, Gucci, Levis, etc.
9. Starbucks anyone??? I've heard some serious rumors that a Starbucks is opening in San Juan Shopping Center. Cannot confirm this though.

My last count: Punta Cana - 51 resorts and 56,000 hotel rooms with a local community that is growing fast.

London_Calling said:

There is something rather sad about this. If you are genuine and doing some consultancy work for the Ministry of Tourism can I suggest you promote local superior products over this crap.

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I agree with you to a certain extent but I would not view Starbucks in Bavaro as a negative. The ideal situation is they buy from local coffee producers and begin to sell Dominican coffees like they do for Ethiopia, Costa Rica, etc. I believe more in compromises.

Kipling333 said:

There is no doubt that Punta Cana and Bavaro are growing very quickly and are now the most horrid tourist places that have nothing in common with the rest of the country ..all tacky and nothing at all Dominican about the place ...you may as well be anywhere on a white beach with mass food and drink of appalling quality ..but it seems to be the way of the world !!

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If you categorize the entire Punta Cana area, with 51 different resorts, as "tacky", you obviously have not visited many of the properties.

Firstly, anyone who knows me, knows that I am not an all-inclusive type of person and enjoy hikes, adventures and off-the-beaten-path escapes. I've traveled, photographed and written about all different corners of the country. My consultancy work with the Ministry is focused on piggy backing off of Punta Cana's current success (the #1 tourist destination in the Caribbean with about 2.5 million visitors in 2010) and encouraging tourists to see more of the country.

With that said, Punta Cana offers you whatever you want. Do you want a 1,000+ room mega resort? No problem; head to Hard Rock Hotel or Bahia Principe. Do you want a 500+ room family-oriented resort? No problem; head to Dreams Palm Beach or Melia Caribe Tropical. I'm assuming these previously mentioned properties would fall under what most people consider "tacky". But there's more...

You have properties like Sivory Punta Cana and Agua Resort up in the northern section of Uvero Alto. These are small boutique hotels with 55 and 51 rooms, respectively; both are far from words like "tacky" and "mass tourism".

You also have to mention properties like Tortuga Bay (30 rooms) and the Golden Bear Lodge (20 rooms) in Punta Cana. These are high end properties and top notch in the Caribbean.

In terms of living here, I believe PuntaCana Village is one of the best properties in the country, as it continues to grow, has an excellent school, well organized and close proximity to amenities like stores, shops and even an airport.

It's easy to just throw Punta Cana in the "mass tourism", "tacky" bin but, one, it's not the case and, two, like it or not, it's currently the biggest draw for tourism to the Dominican Republic. Just as I mentioned finding a compromise for Starbucks, I'm helping to find the same compromise for Punta Cana.

Kipling333 said:

Yes Punta Cana is the biggest tourist destination by miles and yes inside some of the better resorts you can find some man made five star attractions but as soon as you leave the gates to go to Punta Cana or to Bavaro it is mainly ribbon development with a collection of shopping areas of differing quaities and regardless of what is written by CarribeanDreamto ,it is an area without charm and the great blessings are are firstly that it is at the remote extreme of the island and secondly it is bringing in some good revenue to the DR .
Please keep Strabucks away and McDonalds away and kentucky Fried Chicken away and let us have more charm in Punta Cana rather than the tacky and brassy gringo establishments , And keep the tourist buses off the Higuey la Romana road until the Highway is completely finished
We can only hope that Samana and Baharoona do not go along the same path

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I think these are good debates to have and it is not my intent to change your mind if you really feel Punta Cana is "tacky" and "an area without charm". In any case, I have a different opinion.

In my previous post, I demonstated that Punta Cana is not all mega resorts. In regards to your "an area without charm" comment, I propose the long stretches of quiet beach in Uvero Alto, sunsets and surfing at Macao Beach, Kite surfing and the white sands at Playa Blanca, and one of the top DR beaches, Playa Juanillo. These would be my definitions of charm. For others it may be a night on the beach at Soles Beach Bar, a Thai dinner outside at Balicana, or simply just walking the shoreline of Bavaro.

The Punta Cana area, in general, was not blessed with the natural diversity seen in the southwest, central, northern regions. Unlike Puerto Plata, where the community existed before the resorts - in Punta Cana, the community is developing after the resorts. In any case, there is much to experience outside of the resorts in Punta Cana, and I'm confident there is potential growth in giving Punta Cana tourists the option to see more of the country.

Although I do not patronize these establishments, I have no role in whether Starbucks, Mcdonalds or KFC decide to invest in Punta Cana. Currently, there are many international brands selling their products not only in Punta Cana, but in other sections of the country as well. If they decide to do so, it's because they see potential in the DR and wish to associate their brand with our country.

London_Calling said:

Tend to agree - an important question is what real benefit do the Dominican Republic and its people really derive from this type of developemnt. Most visitors pay for an AI in the country of origin - Canada, USA, UK etc. and hence expect to spend very little outside the hotel because it is alreay for paid for or it appears to be "free". Hence you get a limited number of facilities outside the resorts - compare Higuey to Punta Cana - you can see where the money stays. For Dominicans the main advantage appears to be un-skilled or semi-skilled work - cleaners, gardeners etc - should they expect than this?

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The Dominican Republic does benefit from All-inclusive tourism but it could benefit a lot more.

Remember that Punta Cana resorts mainly employ Dominicans. These are not all un-skilled or semi-skilled workers; there are sales departments, wedding departments, food & beverage, reception, etc. The resorts also need to buy food and materials and many purchase locally.

You'd be surprised at how many tourists leave the resorts and purchase excursions. This allows for local DMC's, excursion companies, souvenir sellers, etc to make a living.

I am not painting the perfect picture here because, obviously, the goal would be to diversify the tourism offer. Right now Punta Cana is too dependant on a handful of large international tour operators. This same scenario allowed tour operators to push the prices down in Puerto Plata - lowering the quality of the properties over time.

Diversifying the tourism offer takes some of that power away from the operators. This would be filling commercial flights with niche tourists that understand there is more than just resorts in the DR: golf, high-end, diving, eco, romance, history, culture, etc.

There is a huge benefit that is drawn from our current tourism product, but it is too volatile. In any case, our problem is not that tourists aren't visiting, it's the type of tourist we are receiving. But in the end, many would like to see more; they just don't know 'more' exists.