The president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association, Joel Santos says the leading tourism organization of the country rejects the green light authorities are giving to the construction of high rises in Punta Cana. The destination had successfully developed with a model of hotel and apartment construction under the height of a coconut tree, or no more than five floors. Santos said the low-density model that has turned Punta Cana into the most successful tourism destination in the Caribbean would be threatened by the authorization for high-rise construction.
The Presidency announced that President Danilo Medina would be at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Moon Palace Punta Cana, an 18-floor residential tower with access to Macao beach. This is a Mexican foreign investment. The high rise would be completed by 2021 at an estimated investment of US$500 million. The complex would have 2,149 rooms, of which 66% would have ocean view and 44% would look onto a golf course. The complex calls for the construction of a water park and nine swimming pools and would be built 500 meters from the beach line.
Gibran Chapur, executive vice president of the developer, Palaces Resorts and spokesman for the builders of the Moon Palace Punta Cana said that the reason why they are interested in investing in the country is because 35% of their clients, who are direct customers grouped in their vacation club, around one million, have asked for the Dominican Republic, which he described as a successful product.
Chapur defended the concept of vertical development, which has received opposition and criticism from Dominican hoteliers, and wondered why deny the sea view to their guests. “People do not go on vacation to look at their neighbor’s room,” he argued in an interview carried by Listin Diario.
Asonahores instead has disputed the amendments to the land use plan that would enable the construction of up to 22 floors in Macao.
Santos said that studies have not been carried out to back the argument of the developers that the construction of high rises on the eastern beach coastline would contribute to competitiveness of the tourism sector. He said a recent Gallup poll indicated that tourists visit the Dominican Republic find the low-rise resorts environmentally friendly. He said: “There is a study that shows how the construction of towers in Punta Cana would disfigure the typical Caribbean coastal landscape, a fundamental component of tourism in the islands.”
He said most companies investing in hotel construction in the country have adhered to the norm of low-rise construction. There are over 40,000 low-rise hotel rooms in the area.
He said instead of promoting high-rise construction, what is most convenient is for the government to promote low-rise tourism development in other regions, such as Montecristi, Pedernales, Barahona, Baní, Nagua and Samana where there is sufficient area to double the present inventory of hotel rooms in the country. Asonahores called for the government to be open to talks as it has been in the past.
The Association of Hotels of the East (Asoleste) that groups hotel companies in the Punta Cana area has also rejected the construction of high rises arguing that the decision introduces changes that will affect the low rise/ low density model that has spurred the successful development of tourism in the Dominican Republic. It called for studies and technical research to validate changes to the present land use plan. The country’s sole high-rise destination, Juan Dolio, is the least successful in the country.
Asoleste considers that it is a mistake to change the low height and density model to build towers in the east, where the arrival of tourists has continued to increase and over the last six years the average annual growth has been widely exceeded.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
19 November 2018
