Wont happen west of Santo Domingo and hopefully nowhere in DR God help us. There is enough of that sort of loud tourism in PR and the Dutch Antilles so settle there. The South West maybe only has a few hundred tourist beds now and with sustainable tourism and the inftrastructure development planned it can and likely will add several hundred more with the small hotel model or the boutique spa hotel and villas resort model. What happens at Bahia de Las Aquilas is the unknown. This region is a destination best suited to Europeans who are into ecotourism, well heeled travelled North Americans in the Aman junkie mold, locals, Latin Americans and specialist travellers such as hikers and bird watchers. The area has a small poor population and any additional tourism investment along with planned international aid to the borders regions will enhance their lives greatly. It won't suit many on this forum especially since many North Americans find the Semana peninsula not to their liking but places with such diverse ecosystems and attractions virtually untouched within a limited area are not found so easily anywhere in the Caribbean and are very attractive to a small and often high spend tourist sector
I love the SW---actually, I love the entire diverse and socially dysfunctional island---and you speak to many fact, but one other fact needs to be mentioned: a few hundred more tourists won't change the lives of the poor people who live in the region. A few hundred thousand will.
That kind of growth won't happen with a couple of more boutique hotels.
Fact is the eco-tourists are a teeny weenie % of the overall tourism market, not enough to make much economic difference in an area.
Fact also is that the SW has changed very little over the years despite the explosion of tourism elsewhere, and despite the constant chatter about how "this will be the year it'll change." There is a reason for that.
Capital seeks the safest and greatest return. Seems those capitalists have been voting with their wallets. Maybe this will be the year it'll change...