Puerto Plata: hotels to be converted into apartments

Puerto Plata is not growing as a hotel destination. This is an objective fact and not an opinion. That is what the Puerto Plata tourist class thinks, which they are expressing lately through platforms and in the most varied media. Cruises are increasing, but hotels are not.

Moreover, it is taken for granted that some establishments will soon be converted into tourist apartments. At least one of these hotels has already requested its readaptation as a vacation home; reliable sources in the area tell arecoa.com.

Puerto Plata tourism industry members have recently complained to the government about a “lack of interest in promoting the area.” The fall of tourists by air is an undeniable reality. Cruise ship passengers are visitors who barely spend a day in the destination, and their impact on the local economy is minimal.

This and previous governments have tried unsuccessfully to recover the pioneer destination of Dominican tourism, from Hipolito to Abinader through Leonel and Medina. The city was remodeled two decades ago, which returned to its former splendor, and the cruise ship hub was vigorously promoted.

But the thrust of a tourist destination is given by hotel investments, which generate labor for the sector and for other industries inherent to tourism. It has been years since Puerto Plata has invested in new establishments. And not only are new projects not being launched, but they are being disinvested—a lousy symptom, therefore, for the destination.