Metro de Santo Domingo

Frank and Haydee Rainieri, founders of Puntacana Resort & Club, will be honored during the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference scheduled for 4-6 May 2010 in Puerto Rico. The Rainieris will receive the Bill Bissell Lifetime Achievement Award that honors individuals who have made a difference in the industry through their actions, contributions and great lifetime accomplishments in the Caribbean and beyond.

“Frank and Haydee’s impact on Caribbean tourism – as well as their work on sustainability issues, social reform and education – is well known and is deserving of the entire region’s respect,” said Enrique De Marchena Kaluche, President of CHTA. (more…)

Tropicalia Foundation, executive and operational arm of its business and social responsibility programs (RSE) in the Tropicalia sustainable tourism development of the Cisneros Organization, located in Miches, eastern El Seibo province, became a member of the National Business Support Network for Environmental  Protection (RENAEPA) on April 5.

Tropicalia Foundation president William R. Phelan took the oath from Network president Julio V. Brache and other partners in the Santo Domingo offices of RENAEPA, a prestigious grouping of important local and international companies, whose objective is the defense and protection of Dominican Republic’s natural resources through actions to spur sustainable growth. (more…)

Most acclaimed chefs Ferran and Albert Adria of El Bulli restaurant (in Spain) are planning to open a local in the Dominican Republic as part of the La Playita luxury development in the Bayahibe beach resort area.

Ferran Adria, who will start teaching a course in culinary physics at Harvard University beginning in fall 2010, recently announced that he will open a new nonprofit educational foundation in 2014 that will strive over the long-term to create an “exhaustive and detailed” encyclopedia of contemporary cuisine.

Don Angel Miolan, considered by many as the father of the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic, died on Friday, 16 April. He was 97 years old. He was one of the founders of the PRD political party, along with Juan Bosch, and one of its most respected advocates. President Leonel Fernandez described Angel Miolan as one of the fathers of modern Dominican democracy. News reports speculated who had paid for his funeral, as he was known to live frugally.

The La Romana-Bayahibe Hotels Association has announced its work plan for 2010-2012. This includes the future launch of the website explorelaromana.com and the development of promotional materials for the destination. The association is also working on developing new cultural and ecological routes, including two in the National Park of the East and another in Bayahibe.

Members of the association are: the hotels Dreams La Romana, Oasis Canoa, Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach, Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace, Catalonia Gran Dominicus, Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus, Casa de Campo, La Estancia Golf Resort, Bahia Principe Nueva Playa La Romana, Cadaques Caribe, and also the La Romana International Airport, the Casa de Campo Touristic Port, the Bayahibe Electricity Company, Dominicus Americanus Ltd. real estate developer, Restaurante Lagos and Tropical Tours. (more…)

Dominican Republic will host the 1st global thematic conference on Tourism Clusters of The Competitiveness Institute (TCI), which is being organized by National Competitiveness Council (CNC) and will be held from the 7th to 10th of April at the Barcelo Convention Center, in Bavaro.  

Under the subject “Tourism Clusters of  Sustainable and Competitive World Class”, the conference welcomes professionals of the cluster area, investigators, international experts and professionals of the tourism area from all over the world, to discuss the major issues and latest trends in the promotion of competitiveness through local development and clusters.

According to Andres Van der Horst, the director of the CNC –the global entity responsible for sponsoring the event–, “the TCI is the leading global network for professionals, policy makers, researchers and business leaders who are working towards improving competitiveness in regions and groups.”

The CNC provides technical and financial support to 21 clusters in the Dominican Republic that have to do with manufacturing, tourism and agribusiness, among other economic areas.

Miami-based Desires Hotels announced the latest international addition to its boutique collection, The Cliffs Ocean Resort, which is situated between Puerto Plata and Samana along the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The project is the first in the Dominican Republic to be LEED certified and is set to open in summer 2011.

Room amenities at the resort include large living areas and private terraces with views to the ocean and the mountains. The Cliffs Ocean Resort’s initial 102 rooms mark the first phase of development in which guests will enjoy the resort’s close proximity to great golf at the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed Playa Grande Golf Course. (more…)

Around 15,000 foreign tourists and new species have visited the Marine Mammal Sanctuary in Samaná (Dominican northeast) since January 15, in the current humpback whale watching season, the Environment Ministry said today.

The figure is 30 percent higher than the first weeks of the 2009 season, and sets a record in attendance, said Whale Observation Program local coordinator Peter Sanchez in a statement.

Hundreds of humpback whales come to Samaná Bay every year from Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the United States north coast, to mate and give birth.

Sanchez added other species have also been observed that in the current season such as sperm whales and sharks, “which means that the safety and quality of the ecosystem make these species feel safe and remain in the country’s Marine Mammals Sanctuary.”

The ambitious Century Grand Constanza project of development and environmental protection will be built at a cost of US$10 million, and its promoters call a sustainable tourism model which will benefit the municipality.

Maximo Brito, director of the office in Puerto Rico responsible for the construction of the project in Constanza (center), said it will be developed in three years and will be the most innovative ecotourism project ever conceived in the country’s North region and will be a model ecological and retirement city for Dominicans and foreigners.

“The zone needs the protection of its environment and the investors from New York and London such as Sergio Pino, president of Century Home Builder, agreed that it’s essential to protect the zone and conserve its biodiversity,” Brito said.

Milan.- The Minister of Tourism signed agreements to bolster cooperation with major Italian tour operators and airlines, to strengthen and expand the diversity of the Dominican Republic destination in that European nation.

Francisco Javier Garcia signed agreements with Nardo Filipetti, president of Eden Viaggi; Franco Pecci, head of the Blue-Panorama charter airline; and executives of the Alpitourworld group, to boost the number of travelers to the Dominican Republic .

(more…)