Just 14 days after a destructive fire ripped through a portion of the Viva Dominicus Beach by Wyndham resort in Bayahibe, Dominican Republic, 200 guest rooms are once again welcoming visitors, the nation’s top tourism official has confirmed.
Tourism Minister David Collado shared that the property has launched a staged restoration roadmap, with a target to bring nearly all of its accommodation back online within two months. This accelerated timeline positions the resort to fully restart operations ahead of one of the Dominican Republic’s peak tourism seasons, when visitor volumes and revenue traditionally surge.
The fire broke out at the Bayahibe resort on June 19, triggering an urgent evacuation of roughly 1,690 registered guests. Emergency crews confirmed one fatality: a 46-year-old Italian tourist. Several additional guests and staff members received on-site medical care from first responders, and official investigations into the root cause of the blaze remain ongoing.
Collado commended the seamless collaborative response from resort staff, local emergency services, and national government agencies in the wake of the incident. He highlighted that coordinated action enabled the safe evacuation of thousands of guests and employees, while all visitors displaced by the fire were quickly relocated to alternative lodging at nearby properties.
According to the minister, the Ministry of Tourism and the Dominican Republic Hotel and Tourism Association (Asonahores) have actively backed the resort’s recovery process. Teams have worked closely with the country’s global tourism promotion offices to keep key international travel markets updated on the situation, avoiding widespread uncertainty for prospective visitors.
Collado added that cross-sector collaboration between the Dominican government and private tourism industry has also extended to supporting impacted guests, covering compensation for personal disruption and replacing valuables and belongings lost in the fire.
Despite the tragic incident, Collado emphasized that tourism operations across Bayahibe and surrounding popular destinations have not been disrupted. The adjacent Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace, which sits on the same resort complex, sustained no damage from the fire and remained open to guests throughout the entire emergency response and recovery effort.