Dominican Republic overtakes Mexico at Fitur with 19 hotel projects announced

The government delegation of the Dominican Republic beat its major tourism competitor, Mexico, in terms of hotel investments presented at Fitur, with 19 projects announced, as opposed to none from the Aztec country.

The Dominican Minister of Tourism, David Collado, summarized that 19 new hotel projects have been formalized for the next three years, with more than 9,000 rooms and an estimated investment of some 3 billion dollars.

Collado explained that of these rooms, 2,627 are in Miches, 5,511 are in Bávaro/Punta Cana, 877 are in Santo Domingo, and 130 are in Santiago.

The Dominican Minister of Tourism also presented the agreement between the Rainieri family and Meliá for a new project in Punta Bergantín, in Puerto Plata.

The Martinón Group and Banco de Reservas also formalized the agreement to construct the first two hotels in the Punta Bergantín project under the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara brands.

Similarly, Alterra Village and Grupo De Valle announced their plans to develop the first Registry Collection hotels and residences in Jarabacoa.

On the other hand, Cap Cana presented a hotel project of more than 500 million in Juanillo, which will consist of 22 lots to be developed in different phases designed for boutique hotels.

Likewise, the Puntacana Group revealed its next project in the country’s east, with some 80 ultra-luxury rooms under the Playa Serena Punta Cana Resort brand, which is expected to be inaugurated in 2026.

In the marketing section, Collado highlighted that during this Fitur, 16 agreements were reached, including three airlines, 11 tour operators, and two consortiums of travel agencies.

Precisely, in the case of Mexico, the Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco, said that the objectives were met since “we had 40 interviews on the agenda due to the enormous interest of Europeans in the Mayan Train.”

During the Madrid fair, the top leaders of the Spanish hotel chains grouped in the Caribbean Tourism Investors Association (Inverotel), chaired by Encarna Piñero, CEO of Grupo Piñero, expressed to Torruco their intention to expand their investments in other destinations in the country, in a meeting that was also attended by the governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, as REPORTUR.mx had anticipated (Cancun: major hoteliers ask Torruco for more destinations to invest in Mexico).

At this lunch, held last Wednesday at the Meliá Palacio de los Duques, the investors focused their praise on the governor in charge of the Cancun and Riviera Maya destinations.

The following day, Inverotel associates, at the same establishment, congratulated Collado for reaching the record of 10 million foreign tourists in 2023 for the first time in its history.

Both meetings were attended by the leaders of Meliá (Gabriel Escarrer), Riu (Joan Trian Riu), Bahía Príncipe (Encarna Piñero), Iberostar (Sabina Fluxá), Palladium (Abel Matutes) and Princess (Carlos Poy).