The Ministry of Tourism has announced the authorization for the construction of a five-star 1,000-room wellness resort in Canoa, Barahona. Complex will include 20 tennis courts for international championships, a 27 hole golf course, thermal spa pools, waterfalls, and a convention center. The thermal waters in Canoa reach temperatures of 38C. Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez and Roberto Chetoni, president of Sociedad Comercial Terma de la Salamandra made the announcement. Chetoni is an Italian expert on thermal spring waters. As part of the project, 2,300 acres (180,000 square meters) in Canoa, Barahona will be leased for 99 years, at the cost of US$850,000. Of this amount, the Ministry of Tourism will manage US$500,000 for infrastructure investments in the area and US$350,000 will be distributed to 52 farmers who live on lands where the hotel will be built. The lease contract still requires congressional approval. If it goes through, this will be the largest hotel in the southwest. As reported in the Listin Diario, Chetoni said that the thermal springs in Canoa would make the project the largest in the world. The project is a major achievement of the Barahona Tourism Cluster, that supported it through the approval stage. Julio Brache, president of the Cluster, said that the project will mark the turning point of the modernization of the the Barahona province.