The most relevant change lies in the nature of the business: tourism is shifting its focus from hotel occupancy to increasingly operating as a real estate asset market.
SANTO DOMINGO. – The more than US$13 billion in tourism investment commitments announced by the Ministry of Tourism at international events such as FITUR 2026 demonstrate the scale of the expansion cycle the sector is experiencing.
In this context are the more than US$4 billion in development projects presented by Asonahores during DATE 2026, with a direct impact on expanding the country's tourism and residential offerings.
Behind the aggregate number is a network of developers, international chains and financial capital that operates with a different logic, one that transcends the construction of rooms: they structure territories where hotels, villas and private residences coexist under the same investment scheme.
This shift occurs in the context of a country that has over 90,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,000 establishments, according to records from Asonahores and sector reports, in addition to thousands of residential units linked to tourism, which are not always counted within the traditional inventory.
Although the arrival of visitors maintains an upward trend, with more than 10 million tourists in 2025, according to data from the Central Bank, hotel occupancy has moderated to around 75%, according to records from the National Statistics Office and analysis of the sector.
In this scenario, the sale of real estate assets emerges as a mechanism to ensure returns from the early stages of the project.
The change of model
The rise of villas, tourist apartments and residences linked to hotel brands, which combine real estate ownership with hospitality services, introduces a hybrid model where income does not depend exclusively on occupancy, but on the sale of units.
The concept of “branded residences” is not always mentioned in the local public conversation, but it is at the heart of this transformation.
In the Dominican Republic, this model has begun to consolidate itself as one of the most dynamic segments of real estate tourism, as published in specialized media such as El Inmobiliario, and unlike the traditional scheme, based on occupancy and guest turnover, these structures allow developers to capture value from the sale of assets, while maintaining operational flows linked to tourism.
This model is not limited to ultra-luxury developments. Simultaneously, projects have emerged targeting individual investors who acquire units for tourist rentals, under schemes managed by private operators.
Firms such as Noval Properties and Cruise On Land have developed this segment, expanding the reach of real estate tourism beyond branded residences.
Added to this is the entry of foreign capital into extensive urbanization projects, such as those promoted by Inmobiliaria Huacachina, which reflect an expansion of the model into new areas of the territory.
Playa Grande: the most recent case
Playa Grande Golf & Ocean Club, the project spearheaded by baseball player Alex Rodriguez in Playa Grande, Río San Juan, represents a US$1 billion investment and combines a hotel, villas, and luxury apartments in a single development, according to information released by the Ministry of Tourism. It is the clearest and most recent example of this shift.
According to Mitur, the plan includes "both hotel and real estate rooms", integrating both components within the same model and contemplates more than 500 units between private residences and hotel offerings, according to data released in the official announcement of the project.
It also incorporates complementary infrastructure, such as a private airport, designed to facilitate access for high-spending customers, according to information released in the official announcement itself.
The terminal, geared towards executive aviation, would involve an estimated investment of around US$40 million and its construction and operation correspond to the private sector, under authorization and supervision of the State.
The complex is structured around Amanera, operated by the international brand Aman, which introduces one of the central elements of the new model: the partnership between real estate development and global luxury brands.
The result, in addition to a high-end tourist destination, is an exclusive portfolio of assets, with properties that can be sold, used or integrated into managed rental schemes.
Beyond its scale, Playa Grande Golf & Ocean Club illustrates the pattern of tourism that is increasingly being structured as a platform for real estate development.
Who buys: the tourist-investor
The product shift also implies a change in demand. The offering includes beachfront villas, luxury apartments, and branded residences, geared toward high-net-worth international buyers. It doesn't cater to the profile of the traditional all-inclusive tourist, even in its luxury version.
This offer is focused on individual or family investors who acquire properties for partial use and profitability, in many cases under schemes managed by hotel chains.
This profile allows developers to secure liquidity before the complete operation of the project, while the buyer gains access to an asset that combines personal use and income potential.
The actors in the system
The model rests on three layers: at the base are the developers who control large tracts of land. In the East, Grupo Puntacana and Cap Cana structure projects where infrastructure, hotels, and residences converge.
These are joined by groups with a hotel origin that have evolved towards mixed schemes, such as Grupo Piñero and Grupo Martinón.
The second level is occupied by international operators, such as Meliá Hotels International, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Club Med, who participate in projects that integrate branded residences, contributing management, positioning and demand.
The third level is financial capital. International funds, family offices, and local financing have supported the growth: in 2025 alone, credit to the tourism sector exceeded RD$61 billion, according to data from the Dominican financial system.
The role of the State
The Ministry of Tourism, headed by Minister David Collado, has actively promoted the attraction of international investment, announcing multimillion-dollar investment commitments at events such as FITUR.
At the same time, the development of infrastructure, such as airports, road access and services, has facilitated the viability of large-scale tourist real estate projects, such as the aforementioned case of Playa Grande, where the incorporation of a private airport responds to that logic: reducing access friction for high-value segments and increasing the competitiveness of the asset.
Money: foreign investment and a change of model
The flow of capital confirms that the change is not merely conceptual. According to the Central Bank, foreign direct investment reached US$5,032.3 million in 2025, the highest level ever recorded by the Dominican economy, with a year-on-year growth of 11.3%.
Within that total, tourism accounted for 26.3% of the flows, equivalent to about US$1,323 million, while the real estate sector captured 15.7%, an additional US$790 million.
The Central Bank itself has indicated that the expansion of real estate activity is "closely related to the boost in tourism," a link that in practice articulates both sectors within the same investment logic.
Together, tourism and real estate absorbed more than 40% of the foreign direct investment that entered the country in 2025, consolidating itself as the main axis for attracting foreign capital.
This data not only highlights the importance of the sector, but also helps to explain its transformation in a context where tourism remains one of the country's main generators of foreign exchange.
It does not operate in isolation as a service industry, but as a platform for the development, financing and marketing of real estate assets linked to the territory.
The sector's revenue is above US$8.5 billion annually, according to the Central Bank, with more than 11 million visitors in 2025 and projections approaching 12 million by 2026.
But tourist flow is now only one part of the equation, as the growth of foreign direct investment in tourism and the expansion of bank financing reflect the change: the sector also functions as a platform for the structuring and marketing of real estate assets.
Territory as a financial asset
The expansion of Dominican tourism is no longer organized solely based on destinations, but rather on territories with investment units that combine land, infrastructure, and real estate assets.
Areas such as Miches, Pedernales, Punta Cana, Playa Grande and Punta Bergantín concentrate projects that combine hotel, residential and infrastructure development, in line with the poles prioritized by the Ministry of Tourism within its strategy of diversifying the sector.
Punta Cana and Bávaro concentrate the largest volume of private investment; Miches emerges as a planned development with the participation of international chains; Pedernales advances as a project driven by the State; and Punta Bergantín is configured as a mixed public-private model in the north and Playa Grande is in the making.
In practice, this pattern suggests that tourism development not only follows demand, but also organizes it territorially, integrating land, infrastructure, and capital within the same investment scheme.
It should be noted that although many of these developments are located in low-density or hard-to-reach areas, their viability depends on the expansion of infrastructure and connectivity, as evidenced by projects that incorporate new access roads or airport facilities.
An industry in transition
The volume of investment, the architecture of the projects, and the composition of capital all point in the same direction: Dominican tourism continues to grow as a service industry, but its internal dynamics reveal the progressive integration with the real estate and financial market.
A new layer in which investment flows, territorial expansion and diversification of supply not only respond to tourist demand, but also to the construction of assets.
In that process, areas such as Miches, Pedernales, Punta Cana, Playa Grande and Punta Bergantín are consolidating not only as destinations, but as spaces where land, capital and value projection converge.
The available evidence, from foreign investment data to the structure of new developments, suggests that the sector is operating under an expanded logic in which it is not just about hosting visitors, but about structuring ownership.
And in that transition, Dominican tourism is beginning to be defined less by the number of rooms it incorporates, and more by the assets it is able to create.
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