The Dominican Republic’s ambitious push to reactivate the North Coast’s tourism economy is gaining significant momentum, centered on the Punta Bergantín initiative, which Banco de Reservas (Banreservas) CEO Leonardo Aguilera has dubbed the region’s “New North.” This large-scale public-private partnership aims to restore Puerto Plata to its historic status as one of the country’s leading tourist destinations, a goal that has drawn strong backing from the Dominican business community, particularly from entrepreneurs based in the nearby city of Santiago.
Aguilera notes that the tourism-focused infrastructure component of the project is already well advanced, leaving real estate development as the key segment driving current investment interest from Santiago’s business leaders. A prominent example of this local investor engagement is Pantaleón Salcedo, a Santiago-based entrepreneur who has already seen remarkable traction on his 180-unit residential development within the Punta Bergantín footprint: 120 of the luxury apartments have already been sold to buyers.
Across the entire project, 263 individual land plots have now been sold to developers and private buyers. Following a recent gathering with Santiago-based business leaders, Aguilera confirmed that the project has closed a fresh round of sales totaling more than $40 million, a milestone that underscores strong market confidence in the initiative’s long-term potential.
Moving forward, the initiation of new hotel construction is the next critical step to fully expand Punta Bergantín’s integrated tourism and real estate offerings, according to Aguilera. He detailed the upcoming development timeline: the groundbreaking ceremony for the project’s second hotel, which is backed by foreign investment, is scheduled for early December this year. Meanwhile, construction on a third 500-room hotel owned by an international hospitality group is slated to kick off in March 2027.
Aguilera reiterated that Banreservas is leading the project as its “spearhead,” working hand-in-hand with private sector stakeholders under a public-private partnership framework designed to unlock broad-based tourism growth and economic development across the Dominican Republic’s entire North Coast.