TORONTO — The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism has approved 42 new projects including 14 new hotels, as visitor arrivals to the island increase in leaps and bounds.

From January to October 2017 tourist arrivals increased by 4.5%, reaching a total of 4.5 million international travellers. The D.R. topped the year off with recognition from The World Golf Organization as the ‘Best Golf Destination of the Caribbean’ for the fourth year in a row.

The D.R.’s Ministry of Tourism recently approved the 42 new tourism projects – an investment of US$1.8 billion dollars – through the Tourism Promotion Council. These projects will mainly impact the Punta Cana region. The top sponsors of the new projects include Spanish capital, Canadian investors and Panamanian sectors.

Here’s a look at some of the new hotel projects in the works:

• The Iberostar Group has announced it will open two new hotels in the D.R.; one in Santo Domingo’s Colonial City and the other in the east coast area of Bávaro. These new projects will add to Iberostar’s current portfolio of 3,000 hotel rooms in country.
• Construction for the Lopesan Costa Bávaro resort in Punta Cana began with plans to have several swimming pools and 1,020 hotel rooms, scheduled to open in May 2019. The resort calls for a EUR130 million investment and will be constructed by The European Lopesan Hotel Group and IFA Hotels & Touristik AG
• Iberostar has announced the construction of 3,000 more hotel rooms in two hotels in the Colonial City and Bavaro beach. Iberostar currently operates three resorts in Punta Cana and will be operating the old Hotel Las Mercedes in the Colonial City, the first hotel in Santo Domingo for the Spanish chain that has several resorts in Punta Cana.
• Senator Hotels & Resorts purchased three Riu resorts in Maimón and Puerto Plata that will be renovated: the former Riu Merengue, Riu Mambo and Riu Bachata. Senator Hotels & Resorts of Spain is new to the market and currently operates 33 city and beach hotels in Spain.
• The groundbreaking ceremony for Grupo H10’s construction of Ocean El Faro in Uvero Alto took place last month. The hotel will have 909 hotel rooms and is scheduled to open in November 2018.
• The Punta Cana region will be getting three new hotels from the Karisma Hotels & Resorts international chain. Construction of the three hotels is scheduled for next year, and two will begin in the spring. The company has also announced an expansion of Nickelodeon Hotel Punta Cana, one of the first Karisma hotels built in the Punta Cana area.