Tourism January 5, 2024 | 3:53 pm

Dominican Republic to transform Arroyo Barril and Barahona Ports for cruise ship tourism

Pedernales.- Following the successful completion of the first phase of the Port of Cabo Rojo in Pedernales, marked by the arrival of the first cruise ship, the Dominican government is now focusing on redeveloping the Arroyo Barril port in Samaná. The aim is to convert the existing loading dock into a modern infrastructure for tourist boats.

Jean Luis Rodríguez, director of the Port Authority, announced that the transformation of Arroyo Barril into a cruise ship port is slated to begin in 2024, with completion expected in 2025. The government also aims to finalize the transformation of the Barahona port within this year. The upgraded Barahona port will be equipped to accommodate medium-sized cruise ships, enhancing its capacity to welcome tourists.

Furthermore, Rodríguez emphasized that with these developments, the Dominican Republic is set to have eight ports capable of receiving cruise ships. Notably, four of these ports will be able to accommodate the largest and most modern cruise vessels, carrying up to seven thousand passengers.

These expansions and improvements signify a significant boost to the nation’s tourism infrastructure, positioning the Dominican Republic as a major cruise destination in the Caribbean.

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Daniel Baez

January 5, 2024 7:26 pm

Are there any really big benefits in cruise tourism or is it minumum? Or is the payoff that those passenger later on get interested in visiting the country internally on a whole new trip?

juan aquino

January 6, 2024 2:03 pm

Reply to Daniel Baez

The benefit is mininal in reality, and very localized. but in the agregate can be a good way to deliver some economic activity to local coastal areas.

Michael Roth

January 8, 2024 1:41 am

Interesting article on this industry. Part of it below.
The cruise lines take large amounts of water from the islands where droughts are already a huge concern. The amount of water they need can total tonnes per cruise, for a mid-size ship, this can equate to around 750 tonnes every day while on large ships it can be as much as 1,500 tonnes.

They dump their waste in our small islands and local waters. Most islands cannot dispose of their own garbage properly nor take on the massive amount of garbage that cruise ships create; cruise ships generate a number of waste streams that can result in discharges to the marine environment, including sewage, gray water, hazardous wastes, oily bilge water, ballast water, and solid waste. They dump black water and gray water into our oceans, respectively 15.000 to 30.000 and 90.000 to 255.000 gallons per day from a typical large ship with 3000 passengers (Brida & Aguirre, 2008). This has an adverse effect on our corals and thus the fish who rely on those habitats.
The Tourist Pollute the islands. Walking on the popular beaches after a cruise ship has visited, it is easy to see the litter that has been left behind. The sand is covered in garbage, cigarettes, and other non-biodegradable items which go into the seas and harm the sea life. This can be detrimental to the ecosystems on the islands due to the limited environmental regulations.
The ship pollutes the air and seas significantly. A large cruise ship can use up to 250 tons of fuel per day, the environmental costs of the sector are incalculable given that the cruise ship industry is unregulated and difficult to gauge its impacts (Brida & Aguirre, 2008). Passengers generally hope to escape the dirty air of cities for some fresh sea air on cruise ships, they do so unknowingly at the of the environment. Running a cruise for a day can equal the same pollution as running a million cars for a day. This contributes to global warming and it is the small islands that are the first to feel these impacts, especially those in the Caribbean who will suffer from droughts, sea level rise, extreme weather changes including bad hurricanes (IPCC, 2018).

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