President Luis Abinader led the historic groundbreaking ceremony that marks the beginning of the construction of the public access to Punta Bergantín and the Hyatt Zilara hotel, where he assured that “today the relaunching of Puerto Plata firmly begins”.
The Hyatt Zilara is the first of a series of tourist facilities that will place this point of the national geography as one of the main attractions for local and foreign visitors. The ambitious project, led by Banreservas, contemplates the commissioning of 4,000 hotel rooms, 1,500 residential rooms and an academic campus.
“Today we firmly begin to re-launch Puerto Plata. It is not an immediate act, but it is sure, confirmed and solid that this area will also resume the strength it had, the development that began,” said the president.
In that order, he said that together with Punta Cana, with the beginning of next year of new hotels in Pedernales, the Dominican Republic will end up with more than 11 and a half million tourists this year and next year they expect more than 12 million.
He expressed that “this is a very special day because he is convinced that today represents a change for the development of the Northern region and said that since 2002, for various reasons, Puerto Plata has been falling in absolute and relative terms in relation to tourism in the Dominican Republic. “But I can tell you that I have all the hope, all the confidence, that today is a turning point and where we are going to grow from these actions.”
“We needed North American brands in the area to attract North American tourism to the region of Puerto Plata, we needed that commercial power, that database that Hyatt has and that Meliá also has, which despite being a Spanish brand, has excellent contacts with the North American market,” he said.
And he added: “but also with the interest of other brands such as Hilton, which is also in the process of negotiation, the case of Karisma, which is a Mexican-Dominican company, but also with many contacts and many marketing muscles for the United States”.
The governor considered that the project goes beyond the limits of the millions of square meters that will be developed both in the hotel and real estate part, in the innovation hub and also in what refers to the movie studios, all combined to have an interaction between each one and to be able to develop the whole region.
He reaffirmed to the investors the support of the government, in terms of marketing, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Public Works in all areas and affirmed that Punta Bergantín is going to be a great success and will relaunch the entire region.
He said that the fact that important world-renowned brands want to invest in this project is a wind of hope for the entire region and tourism, especially in the northern zone with its impact on the entire country and also represents an act of confidence in the project and in the area.
Meanwhile, the executive and representative of Hyatt, Antonio Fungairino, said that the project will represent a very high profile anchor for the development of Punta Bergantín and thanked the strategic approach to tourism in the Dominican Republic where, he reported, they already have almost 20 hotels and more than 8,000 rooms.
In addition, the executive of Grupo Martinón, Enrique Martinón, congratulated President Abinader for his recent inauguration and also for the tenacity with which they have pursued the project, to make its inception a reality in such a short time.
Likewise, the director of the Punta Bergantín Trust, Andrés Marranzini, expressed his gratitude to President Abinader for including in his first groundbreaking ceremony of his new term as leader of the nation, the Punta Bergantín scenario, which he said, is a sign of his affection and commitment to the people of Puerto Plata, for which “this gesture serves as special motivation to the team that makes up the project and demonstrates the particular attention that you pay to the details of this, even with all the occupations you have, thank you for your express support, follow-up and commitment.”
Source:Arecoa.com
