Why Invest?

The Project:

• 8000 properties (apartments, bungalows, townhouses, villas, penthouses, founders plots)
• set in 2700 acres of the most stunning beach front real estate left in the Caribbean• 3.5km of white sandy beaches • 15 minutes from Punta Cana International Airport• Low density build, averaging 11 people per acre (based on all properties having 3 people in at any one time)

Rental Pool

Attractions

3 Signature golf courses, Golf academy, Marina with over 400 moorings, Equestrian centre & Polo Field, Sports club & tennis academy, Beach Club & International Spa, Commercial centre (featuring cinema etc), Colonial style leisure area featuring chic bars and fine dining, Aqua park, Casino, Business Centre, Medical centre.

The Growing Dominican Tourism Market

For the past 25 years, the Dominican Republic has transformed its tourism sector into one of the most dynamic in the Dominican economy, and it continues to move ahead with exceptional growth. As the country’s biggest revenue earner, tourism has grown at an average annual rate of 12% and in 2006 accounted for approximately 21.3% (US 8.1 billion) of its GDP[1]. Moreover, the sector also generates 656,000 jobs, 18.4% of the total workforce, and generates almost half of the country’s foreign exchange. Looking ahead to 2007, the International Monetary Fund recently revised this year’s GDP forecast from 5.5% to 9.0% growth.So strong has growth been that the country recently surpassed even Dubai in terms of tourism growth. Seventeen hotels have been built within the last several years, there are now an estimated 65,000 hotel rooms in the country. With the industry booming and the homebuyers anxious to get their piece of paradise, the government is delicately working to balance private sector incentive with smart and sustainable development. Developers are looking to capitalize on new areas of flora and fauna, including its natural caves, reserves, forests, 300 species of birds, and 350 species of orchids.

The Dominican Republic is unique in its centralized Caribbean coordinates that make it a great tourist destination: it is at the nexus of South, Central, and North America, as well as Europe, and tourist statistics reflect the fact that visitors find its geographic location ideal. The tourism and travel industry in the Dominican generated approximately $8.1 billion in 2006, growing 4.5% over 2005. Last year saw record arrivals nationwide, surpassing numbers on a quarterly as well as annual basis. According to the central bank, foreign air travel into the country totalled 3.3 million visitors, an increase of 8% over 2005. And, already this January saw a 5.5% increase in non-resident tourists entering the country as compared to the same period last year.

Occupancy rates in the Dominican Republic traditionally stand at more than 70%, except for 2001 and 2002 when the global tourism industry suffered from the events of September 11. As a testament to its growing popularity, the occupancy rates have remained stable even as the island continues to add rooms.When tourists visit, they typically will stay an average of 9.5 nights. Over 70% of the hotels have foreign operators and management companies. Among the international chains currently operating in the country are Sol Melia, Occidental Hotels, Barcelo, Howard Johnson, InterContinental, Renaissance, Allegro and Accor. However, the market, especially Punta Cana, is dominated by all-inclusive hotels.The island’s friendly tourism environment, low operating costs, lower local wages and food and beverage production, has clearly made the Dominican Republic more attractive to tourists and international brand operators alike. This growth has been further enhanced by the damage done to competing hotels’ slow recovery to profitable room supply in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico from recent hurricanes and the subsequent wave of re-bookings at Dominican resorts. Moreover, the re-bookings are expected to have a permanent effect on the sector, especially when those tourists experience the low density and spectacular beaches in the Punta Cana region.

Domincan Republic Overview

"Lifestyle Paradise"

The all-inclusive European-owned hotels have traditionally dominated the Dominican hospitality market, although these properties have not contributed significantly to the local economy because of their reliance on charter flights, overseas payments of all-inclusive fees (limiting hard currency entering the country), and reduced use of local amenities. These hotels continue to open up around the island. For example, Sol Melia's new Paradisus Palma Real recently opened in early 2006. It is built next door to the Melia Caribe Tropical, has 600 suites, including 102 suites, and two presidential suites, that have been set apart for even more luxury, with the personalized royal service program. On the premises is a 2,625 square meter spa and large banquet facilities.

The country has begun to develop a reciprocal relationship with its visitors, as it welcomes visitors to enjoy the island’s natural beauty and culture, and targets promotions to higher-income travellers from Canada, Europe, and particularly the US. The US is now the largest single-country source of visitors to the Dominican Republic, and US tourists’ preferred destination is La Altagracia region, where Punta Cana is located.

More recently, in order to serve the premier luxury market, the Dominican government’s highest priority has become the introduction and promotion of new, luxury branded hotels such as Ritz-Carlton, Conrad, and Fairmont. As opposed to the all-inclusive resort model of “flipping” guests, their model encourages their guests to stay and enjoy the property, which ultimately directly impacts the local economy. Moreover, many of these properties will include branded real estate in the form of condominiums and villas, thus ensuring a stable demand base that will return year after year.

Culture
Dominican Republic is an independent country in the West Indies, a region of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. The republic of Haiti occupies the rest of the island. Hispaniola lies between the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico and is located about 1,000 kilometres southeast of Florida, United States. The Dominican Republic’s land area of some 48,000km2 makes it roughly equivalent to the size of Scotland or the US state of Maryland.

Recent Shifts in Government Priorities

As foreign travellers continue to discover, and then return, to the Dominican Republic, the government continues its promotion and development of the country’s tourist zones, specifically the Punta Cana-Bavaro areas. In its efforts to continue to attract the participation of the private sector, the government has made a concerted effort to improve the existing infrastructure to relieve congestion and pollution that is common in the popular tourist areas. To that end, the government is working to improve its roads, ports, airports, water, power generation and public services. For example, last year’s budget for tourism-related infrastructure totalled almost $300 million, which was to include highway construction and repairs, revamping existing tourism areas, new aqueducts and water treatment plants, and beach re-nourishment projects, among others. The country has, as one of its expressed policies, provided tourists with great roads and clean water to ensure that hotels continue to be built, which will always help to stimulate the local economy.

As mentioned earlier, many of the Dominican’s provinces are already saturated with hotels, so the government began to direct some of its tourism efforts toward encouraging developments of other parts of the island. In 2001, the government passed a law aimed at providing incentives to tourist activities in underdeveloped regions, and in 2002 it further defined the regions or municipalities that would be most benefited by the new law, which included La Altagracia and some interior areas. And, indeed, the law brought about the intended result. By the end of 2004, new tourist facilities were beginning to open in the country’s mountainous regions. The Altagracia province also received renewed attention from foreign investors.It will be interesting to watch the larger Punta Cana developments mature, and see if the growth in the Dominican is sustainable. Certainly the government and developers will be searching for innovative development ideas, perhaps along the ecotourism model, to complement what is currently going on. For now, development is booming, and there does not seem to be an end in sight.