Rainieri warns sargassum threatens Dominican tourism

Santo Domingo.- Frank Rainieri, founder of the Puntacana Group, warned that sargassum is severely threatening the Dominican Republic’s tourism competitiveness, impacting over 60% of hotel rooms along the Caribbean coast. At the Meta RD 2036 progress presentation, he stressed that tackling this issue requires a strong public-private partnership and shared commitment.

Rainieri highlighted tourism’s key role in the country’s economic growth but emphasized the need to address structural challenges such as diversifying tourism products, regulating informal lodging, improving road infrastructure in busy areas like Punta Cana and Bávaro, streamlining airport immigration, and enacting a functional Tourism Territorial Planning Plan.

He pointed out that sustaining tourism growth above 6% annually depends on sustainable, inclusive, and well-regulated development aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He also called for formalizing employment and protecting marine ecosystems to strengthen resilience against climate change. Rainieri closed with a call to action, urging all stakeholders to accelerate solutions to avoid another difficult tourism season.