Meliá and Falcon’s Beyond Global open the Caribbean’s first great entertainment destination in Punta Cana
Meliá Hotels International, forming a Joint Venture with Falcon’s Beyond Global, today announced an extensive plan to build and develop a next-generation theme park in Punta Cana, Katmandu Park ™, which will open its doors in the fall of 2022, along with other projects. that will consolidate the destination’s leadership in entertainment, gastronomy, and shopping tourism.
The Falcon’s Beyond ™ master plan for this new Entertainment Destination is developed in two phases. Phase 1 includes the development of Katmandu Park Punta Cana, which will bring the magical characters and history of Kathmandu, so loved by millions of children in Europe, to a whole new audience in the Caribbean. The ‘Kathmandu Experience’, which will include everything from legendary attractions to the latest in entertainment such as the world’s first ‘Suspended’ Theater®, will also offer exciting adventures as guests and visitors immerse themselves in the universe of Katmandu, completely transforming the entertainment offer of the Dominican Republic.
Phase 2 will allow an expansion of the project by adding a range of top-level entertainment, restaurants and shopping, through the incorporation of large brands of international prestige in these sectors, and will be led by Falcon’s beyond.
“The size and potential of the entertainment brands that we will be announcing early next year as members of Phase 2 of the project are truly impressive,” said Cecil D. Magpuri, CEO of Falcon’s Beyond Global, in his speech.
“The important Joint Venture between Meliá Hotels International and Falcon’s Beyond in Punta Cana, an exceptional destination in which we have been working for more than 30 years and that we carry in our hearts, will materialize in the first great Theme Park and Entertainment Destination in the Caribbean ”Said the Executive Vice President of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer.
Deepening the commitment that Meliá Hotels International has maintained with Punta Cana for more than three decades, the leading hotel company in Spain has incorporated into the master plan an important renovation of two of the Paradisus hotels that the company has in this destination, including the total reconstruction the first of its resorts of this brand in the area, the Paradisus Punta Cana, and a great reform of the Paradisus Palma Real. The Company expects to substantially complete the renovation of the existing hotels by the end of 2023. The new Paradisus Punta Cana, whose avant-garde concept and architectural project the prestigious architect Álvaro Sans explained to those present at the event, will apply criteria of sustainable and intelligent architecture, and it will use native landscaping to minimize the negative impact that its construction could have on its spectacular and sensitive natural environment. The resort will also prioritize, from the very conception of the project, energy efficiency systems and for the management of water resources and waste, as well as the objectives of achieving neutrality in Co2 emissions, and the Circular Economy.
“Punta Cana is the place where our Paradisus brand was born, with the opening of the Paradisus Punta Cana in 1995,” recalled André P. Gerondeau, COO of Meliá Hotels International. “With the project that we launch today, a new resort will emerge in its place, bringing, from loyalty to its principles, a new degree of luxury to a brand much loved by some of the most demanding travelers in the world, and that provides exceptional experiences. based on an all-inclusive luxury service, extraordinary locations and a philosophy of sustainable and responsible management ”.
Meliá Hotels International has 82 hotels certified by Earth Check and has ranked among the two most sustainable hotel companies in the world since 2019, in the Standard & Poors Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, and aspires to continue promoting social, cultural and economic development in local communities , supporting training and employment, inclusion and accessibility.
“Together with Meliá and the Dominican Republic, we are truly creating a destination unmatched in other parts of the world – a new dimension for Punta Cana” – said Scott Demereau, Executive President of Falcon’s Beyond Global. “This entertainment destination has been designed to complement the experiences offered by the resorts and the wonderful beaches in this area, offering a new reason for tourists to visit the Dominican Republic and enjoy all that the country has to offer.”
As the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, said, “350 million dollars Meliá will invest with its partner Falcon’s Beyond Global, an investment that will impact the region and the country. This is the objective of this Government, investment and employment opportunities.”