EDITOR’S NOTE: Approaching mid-May, #IslandsCaribbean featured Dominican Republic in our edition 2021-05-18. We do the same in this newsletter. Please note that this publication now has its own Twitter page. Going forward, this newsletter, any subsequent newsletter, and all information not included in the newsletters will be posted to that page, for ease of reference.
Our headline, taken from the Caribbean Journal, reads: “A New Margaritaville All-Inclusive Is Coming To The Dominican Republic”. This new five-star resort — the Margaritaville Island Reserve Cap Cana — is the product of a partnership between Margaritaville and Karisma Hotels and Resorts, and will be opened in October this year.
In the coming years, up to 16,000 rooms could be built in the Cabo Rojo and Pedernales area as part of a government-planned development. And, the largest bank in the Dominican Republic — Banco Popular Dominicano — has disclosed that it has approved a portfolio 68 new hotel development projects for financing in the amount of US$3.7B.
Finally, Expedia — an online travel agency — has reported that demand for travel to the Dominican Republic is recovering and, in fact, now exceeds pre-pandemic levels: to the extent that reservations being handled to the country already exceeds 153% of the volume previously handled in 2018, which was itself a record year for tourist arrivals.