President Luis Abinader declared a forthcoming renaissance for Puerto Plata’s hotel sector on Tuesday, 21 October 2025, when he presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the Meliá Bergantín Beach hotel in Puerto Plata. Melia was one of the pioneers of the Punta Cana destination in the early 80s.
Punta Bergantin is together with Miches (on the East Coast) and Pedernales (on the
Southwest Coast), a new tourism destination developed under the Abinader administration, this time for the North Coast.
The plan is for the resort to offer approximately 400 rooms, which includes the management of a 100-apartment condohotel. The resort has an opening target by the high season of 2026.
During the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony, President Abinader highlighted the profound local impact of Meliá Bergantín Beach, the first hotel slated for construction within the Punta Bergantín framework. The inclusion of renowned international brands like Meliá, he said, signifies the “reactivation” of a tourism hub that saw its hotel offerings significantly decline after the year 2000.
“Puerto Plata is going to be reborn, to be relaunched in hotel terms and will have the same successful development we are seeing in the country’s other tourism poles,” Abinader proclaimed.
The Meliá development is a collaborative investment among the Escarrier, Rainieri, and Brugal families. An estimated US$70-US$100 million is expected to be invested. The new Meliá in Puerto Plata comes as the northern province is experiencing a surge in real estate development and booming cruise tourism.
The Meliá Bergantín Beach hotel is to be the anchor for the much larger Punta Bergantín development, an ambitious, multi-phased initiative backed by the Dominican government to transform Puerto Plata’s northern coast. Punta Bergantin development covers approximately 10 million square meters. Overall, the plan is to develop at least 4,500 hotel rooms. Other brands that are expected to open in the area are Hyatt Ziva and Zilara and Karisma. The plan includes spaces for 2,000 residential and mixed-use tourist units.
The project is envisioned as a “Silicon Beach” and innovation hub, featuring an academic campus focused on innovation and entrepreneurship and film studios potentially managed by actor and producer Vin Diesel.
The President detailed the government’s strategic move to acquire the Punta Bergantín lands through the state-owned Banco de Reservas. This was followed by a collaborative design process with interested investors. Abinader noted the strategy had a dual purpose: repositioning the destination and developing a major tourism initiative “without a cost, neither for the government nor for the Banco de Reservas.”
Speaking at the event, Tourism Minister David Collado said that recent deals with major airlines, including American Airlines and Air Transat, will ensure an additional 454,000 seats for passengers arriving to Puerto Plata’s Gregorio Luperon International Airport (POP). Collado also announced that by January 2026, Copa Airlines is expected to introduce three weekly flights to Puerto Plata and Santiago, further bolstering tourist arrivals.
“We are making every effort to connect Puerto Plata,” he stated. Beyond air connectivity, the government has invested RD$1.8 billion in local infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks, and general tourism-focused facilities within the province.
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Diario Libre
21 October 2025