By Escarlin Pozo
El Inmobiliario
SANTO DOMINGO- "Welcome to the Dominican Republic!", announced the pilot as he landed at Punta Cana International Airport.
Upon disembarking the plane, Mayra Díaz, the current CEO of Blue Caribbean Properties, was struck by the grandeur that greeted her. The country's first welcome was a warm embrace from the climate and a distinctive roof over the terminal.
From the moment he set foot on Dominican soil, he was struck by the fact that the airport was completely open and had roofs covered with cane palms.
“I arrived completely surprised when I saw that airport that was full of people. It was so different, so Caribbean, and I thought, well, where have I arrived? It was spectacular,” she recalls.
Upon her arrival in 2005, Mayra, originally from Mexico, came from Barcelona, where she worked and studied, to join a telephony project for the Caribbean.
The company I worked for provided services to the hotel industry. It offered calls charged to credit cards, and others that were billed to tourists visiting the country.
But with time and technological advances, the situation changed significantly. With the introduction of apps like WhatsApp, the way tourists communicated was transformed.
While all this was happening, another scenario was beginning to unfold in her life. Through the relationships she had forged with friends and businesspeople in the hotel industry, Mayra began receiving requests to look for properties.
Potential investors, with plans to develop hotels and invest in housing, saw her as the key to making their projects a reality. She started by working with beachfront plot developments. Then came requests for rentals.
19 years in Creole land
Mayra Díaz. (External source).
Nineteen years have passed since that landing. But why did he decide to stay in the country, and how did he climb the ladder in the real estate world?
The Mexican woman explained that she never planned to stay longer than two years. However, the simplicity and positivity of the Dominican people, reflected in their warmth and the unique character of the corner stores, made her change her plans. Moreover, she was captivated by the cold beer, that particular way of drinking it which she says is unique in the country.
“The beer in the Dominican Republic is so cold, that temperature, no other country in the world has it. No other country in the world,” he repeats, as if he wanted to make sure that this part is not overlooked in the interview with El Inmobiliario.
He adds that he loves the countryside, corner stores, and simple people, but where his Dominican love truly shines is when he sits down at a corner store to have a cold drink.
“Many people are struck by how friendly Dominicans are when interacting with you, how they listen, and how you can get along with them and even be happy. That's not common everywhere,” Díaz continues.
Regarding his work at Blue Caribbean Properties, he explains that it began when he met Michael Grijalva, the company's founder and president, who was one of his clients when he started navigating the waters of the real estate sector.
Michael, fascinated by the Caribbean land, not only bought one property but two, and soon conceived the idea of creating a business that would help other foreigners acquire properties in the country and enjoy its beauty.
“He was a tourist to whom I sold a property, and he fell in love with the Dominican Republic. He bought one apartment, then another, and that's when his business idea arose so that more foreigners could have the opportunity to buy properties and enjoy this land,” he says.
This is how Mayra, who is an information technology engineer, joined the project, assuming the role of general manager of Blue Caribbean Properties, a company that currently has 50 agents dedicated to selling properties to both foreigners and Dominicans.
She also accumulated experience in the sector, working for several years as an executive for Noval Properties.
Díaz sees Punta Cana as an epicenter of opportunities and growth in various sectors, from construction to tourism.
With its forward-looking vision, its goal is to continue contributing to the development of the region, connecting foreigners with the richness and true essence that the Dominican Republic has to offer.
Originally published in the 8th edition of El Inmobiliario print magazine.
