The arrival of approximately 400,000 cruise passengers annually is expected from 2026 onwards.
SANTO DOMINGO. – The ITM Port Investments Consortium was awarded the contract by the government to convert the Duarte Port in Arroyo Barril-Samaná into a cruise terminal and tourist facilities area. The project is expected to require an investment of RD$3.6 billion.
This initiative proposes the rehabilitation and construction of an infrastructure that allows the arrival of Oasis-type vessels, the largest in the cruise industry, as well as developing a terminal with the capacity to receive four cruise ships at the same time.
The General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP) and the Dominican Port Authority (APORDOM) announced the awarding of a public-private partnership (PPP) contract. "After completing an open and transparent competitive process, the National Council of Public-Private Partnerships (CNAPP) awarded the first infrastructure project to be developed through a public-private partnership contract, under the framework of Law 47-20, which consists of the design, construction, and operation of the area as a tourist destination," a press release states.
APORDOM's executive director, Jean Luis Rodríguez, indicated that the Puerto Duarte port, inaugurated in 1977, currently has 19 permanent employees and its operations are based on receiving general cargo, so the cruise terminal will represent an opportunity to generate new jobs and businesses in Samaná and enhance the tourism offering, which he said will lead to social and economic development for the entire Northeast region and the Central Cibao.
For his part, the executive director of the DGAPP, Sigmund Freund, expressed his satisfaction with what he said is “a great milestone for the country, as this is the first infrastructure project that will be developed through a public-private partnership contract, under the tutelage of Law 47-20, which has only been enacted and in force in Dominican legislation for three years.”.
Freund highlighted that this project is part of President Luis Abinader's government's decision to position the country as a Caribbean Cruise Hub and added that this new terminal will boost tourism and commerce in the province, creating approximately 1,050 direct and indirect jobs.
He added that this is the second tourism project being carried out in the country under the responsibility of the DGAPP and that it has an estimated investment of US$68 million, equivalent to RD$3.8 billion. He also noted that the arrival of approximately 400,000 cruise ship passengers annually is expected starting in 2026.
Rodríguez, head of APORDOM, explained that this cruise terminal is expected to receive 161 ships per year, with approximately 3,300 passengers, coming from Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Curaçao, Barbados, Montego Bay, St. Lucia, Tampa Bay and New York.
“This terminal is designed to accommodate up to one million visitors annually, which will undoubtedly lead us towards consolidating our country as a Caribbean Cruise Hub,” the official stated.
He pointed out that this is the first time in the history of the Dominican Republic that the concession of a port is carried out through a public-private partnership, since they are generally established through concessions, as provided by Law 70-70 that creates the Dominican Port Authority.
The cruise terminal to be developed in Arroyo Barril would join the existing Amber Cove and Taino Bay terminals in Puerto Plata, the Romana Cruise Terminal in La Romana, and Port Cabo Rojo in Pedernales, a project that is currently under construction, becoming the five tourist terminals in our country that have the infrastructure to receive Oasis-type vessels.
The commissioning of this cruise terminal is estimated to generate a net income of US$1.75 per cruise passenger and US$0.53 per square meter of monthly rent for the Dominican Republic's land use, amounting to US$115.6 million in revenue over the project's 33-year lifespan. The port project has an estimated construction period of three years.
