Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic – A senior former tourism official is calling on the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) to step up targeted funding for Puerto Plata, a coastal northern tourism hub, to revitalize its underdeveloped historic downtown and iconic waterfront boardwalk and boost its competitiveness as a top-tier Caribbean travel destination. Julio Almonte, who previously served as Deputy Minister of Tourism, laid out a detailed set of infrastructure and public space upgrades he says are long overdue, noting that current conditions fail to deliver a safe, welcoming experience for both local residents and the hundreds of thousands of domestic and international visitors who travel to the region each year. Almonte’s proposed overhaul includes full restoration of the district’s distinctive heritage Victorian-era residential buildings, critical upgrades to aging stormwater drainage and public sanitation networks to eliminate pervasive unpleasant odors that have deterred foot traffic, and a full reorganization of scattered, underused public plazas and pedestrian zones. For enhanced public safety, he is also pushing for a full replacement of outdated, dim street lighting across both the historic center and boardwalk, paired with a citywide 24-hour high-resolution surveillance camera network to reduce petty crime and improve emergency response times. The ex-official emphasized that the scale of these necessary upgrades far outstrips the limited annual operating budget of the local Puerto Plata municipal government, making sustained, dedicated financial and technical support from Mitur non-negotiable to protect the city’s one-of-a-kind architectural heritage and elevate its global brand image as a cultural and leisure tourism destination. To underscore the tangible return on such investment, Almonte cited the booming cruise passenger arrival numbers and corresponding local economic growth recorded in Santo Domingo’s well-maintained Colonial City, arguing that Puerto Plata is equally positioned to unlock similar tourism revenue gains if its core public infrastructure is brought up to standard. For the latest breaking regional news, readers can access full updates via DominicanScope’s headline feed.
Puerto Plata seeks greater tourism support to upgrade historic center
