Sigmund Freund is the Dominican Republic’s Minister of Public Administration. But he is also honorary president of the Pro Pedernales Trust, and he was recently in Madrid, Spain for the Spanish Fitur travel fair representing the trust when meeting with possible investors for Pedernales tourism projects.
The Dominican government is funding the construction of several resorts off Cabo Rojo Beach to kick off the southwestern destination of Cabo Rojo in southwestern Pedernales. Thousands of tourists are getting a first look as guests on cruise ships that are docking at the new Cabo Rojo Port. More than 150,000 cruise passengers are expected to arrive to the port this year, according to the Dominican Port Authority.
But the goal is to soon be able to offer resort stays in luxury beach hotels. The Spanish chain of Iberostar is slated to operate the first resort set for completion by the end of the year. Two Hyatts are also under construction in the Cabo Rojo Beach area. Freund was in Madrid because the Dominican government wants to attract investors to continue building other resorts.
In an interview with CDN journalists, Katherine Hernandez and Nelson Rodriguez, Freund explained the efforts underway to create the Cabo Rojo destination in southwestern Pedernales province from scratch.
He explained that the first phase of the project was the inauguration of the Cabo Rojo Port that has booked cruise ships from the Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival lines for 2025. The port is operated by the same Mexican company responsible for the Taino Bay port in Puerto Plata. This year, the company will be launching a major water park at the site, making the port on its own an attractive place to be.
For land tourism, Pro Pedernales, the government-owned trust, is funding the construction of the first three hotels. The first is an Iberostar, with 584 rooms facing the Caribbean Sea. The hotel is 200m away from the Cabo Rojo beach, more than the usual 60 meters required for other beach property and hotels. It is expected to open in December 2025. Two more hotels are also underway, and these will be operated by the US Hyatt hotel firm for an overall 1,600 first hotel rooms. The goal is to find investors to have in operation more than 5,000 rooms in the next 10 years as the Pro Pedernales Trust transitions from a public project to a public-private project. “We are looking for partners and hope to announce these by March 2025, especially in the operative part,” he said during the interview.
“More than a tourism project, this is a social project,” he said. We integrate the people to development by fostering tourism, he explained to CDN.
The Dominican government is also funding the construction of an underground electricity grid, an aqueduct and sewage facilities, international airport, with advances made on the runway set to be in operation by July 2026.
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CDN
El Nacional
28 January 2025