Banco Popular Dominicano has pledged US$6.2 million to construct a new cruise port in Samaná Bay. Christopher Paniagua, the bank’s executive president, made the announcement during the traditional breakfast event the bank held for media attending FITUR 2025, the Spanish travel fair, in Madrid, Spain.
The total project cost is estimated at US$9.2 million, according to Juan Manuel Martín de Oliva, vice president of Tourism Businesses for the BPD. Nevertheless, he said the project is still in the negotiation phase.
A first cruise ship terminal would have been built in the city of Samana. Nevertheless, in September 2023, the government announced the Puerto Duarte in Arroyo Barril, on the south side of the Samana peninsula, would be converted into a cruise ship terminal, through the facility of public-private trust. The agreement had been signed in March 2023. The agreement was signed with PDAB Port Investments Sociedad Gestora, S.A., represented by Mauricio Hamul. Hamul is the CEO of ITM Group, the Mexican company that has built and operates the Taino Bay port in the northern city of Puerto Plata and the new Cabo Rojo cruise terminal in southwestern Pedernales.
The agreement called for the modernization of the existing Duarte Port in the Arroyo Barril area, adjacent to the small domestic airfield, to be able to receive Oasis-class cruise ships that are defined as the largest in the cruise ship industry. The term refers to the large ships built by Royal Caribbean, such as Wonder of the Seas, that offer a wide range of onboard amenities and activities. The terminal would have the capacity to receive four cruise ships at the same time.
At present, cruise ships dock in Samana Bay and are distributed by small boats to the activities in the province. Samana is strong on ecotouristic activities because of its combination of low mountains and beaches.
The Popular bank executives said during the Madrid meeting with the press that they are at the same time evaluating lending US$800 million for the construction of 15 tourism projects around the country totaling more than US$1.6 billion and that would add another 7,000 rooms to the country’s accommodations inventory over the next two years.
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Listin Diario
Public Private Alliances Agency
CPP
21 January 2025