| Going beyond resorts
Perhaps the most ambitious real estate and tourism development in the entire Caribbean, the US$500 million luxury Cap Cana project, taking 10 years to complete over 3 stages, is dubbed “the world’s next great tourist destination”. “This is not a resort, but a destination in itself and has already been built as such,” says president of the board of directors, Ricardo Hazoury Toral, a member of one of the Dominican Republic’s most entrepreneurial families. “There are people that come all the way from Europe and they don’t even know that it is in the Dominican Republic. We want Cap Cana to be a destination where you feel you are in contact with nature and the Caribbean, but with style and luxury.” These two concepts are a central feature of Cap Cana, which has already cost US$200 million two years into its development. It will house three Jack Nicklaus’ signature golf courses; the nation’s first luxury marina holding super-yachts; five boutique hotels and 5,000 accommodation units, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to villas, all beside 5.5 km of white sandy beach and only seven minutes’ drive from Punta Cana International Airport. By the end of the year, Cap Cana aims to have one golf course open, as well as part of the marina and some accommodations. Mr Hazoury says there was no problem getting Jack Nicklaus and other investors involved, once they had actually visited the site, although it was completely virgin land. “Despite the unique features of not one, but three, signature golf courses, and being the only marina housing 100ft+ yachts between Puerto Rico and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the main attraction is the location itself. I have not created this place—nature did that—and it is unique. It has amazing scenery and views and is completely in touch with nature, but with every possible luxury to hand. Apart from 5-star resort facilities, Cap Cana is formulated to be a city; anything you can imagine that a city needs, we have it, such as restaurants, drug stores, beauty salons, bars, discotheques, churches, health facilities”. Hotel groups such as Spain’s NH, besides constructing luxury boutique hotels, are also involved in developing real estate here, further broadening the range of accommodations and styles. Currently, prices range from US$400,000 for a 1-bed apartment to more than US$5 million for a villa, and the destination is already a guaranteed investment opportunity. Beach lots bought at US$100 per m2, have since been sold at US$400 per m2 and Hazoury predicts another doubling in value in three years. Hazoury is so confident of success that he has already embarked on a new project “that is going to have a lot of importance, probably even more than Cap Cana, where I am going to be selling lots for around US$3-12 million”— all a far cry from low-cost package tourism with which the Dominican Republic had long been associated. The Hazoury family’s Grupo Abrisa holding has several important companies, such as Aerodom, which has a 35-year concession to operate six of the country’s nine international airports. “Our aim is to be the leading company in this area in the Caribbean,” states director general Astrid Díaz. “It is paramount that when a tourist arrives in a country, they encounter a high level of service, as his first and last contact with that nation is at its airport. We therefore invest heavily in service, with much know-how coming from a branch of Vancouver International Airport, which operates with us, and in new technologies.” Aerodom also received a US$100 million loan for its ambitious upgrades. The company has invested US$30 million in upgrading Puerto Plata’s international airport while in Santo Domingo’s International Airport Las Americas, the country’s main airport, capacity has almost been doubled recently with the addition of a new terminal and four additional gates, allowing use by wide jets. “This will make the airport an ideal mini-hub for continental destinations and enable us to compete with San Juan,” says Ms Díaz. Aerodom has invested US$72.9 million in building a new airport in the up and coming tourist mecca of Samaná. The opening is set for next year and there are still possible investment opportunities for services. “Aerodom is key to the development of tourism in the Dominican Republic and thus of our economy, as we allow for any growth in tourist numbers. To further encourage this, we are very open to negotiating good terms for airlines who wish to develop new routes or fly from existing ones to different airports here.” Business week – Gareth Gardiner-Jones |