SANTO DOMINGO. The Dominican Republic will increase its number of cruise terminals from three to eight by 2025, three of which already receive Oasis-type cruise ships, according to the director of the Dominican Port Authority, Jean Luis Rodríguez.
“In 2020, we received three cruise terminals that were not operating due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only one of them had the capacity to receive Oasis-type cruise ships. Today we have Taíno Bay, with two phases operational; we are building Samaná Bayport and Port Cabo Rojo, a project in conjunction with the DGAPP; we have Arroyo Barril; and we are working on a proposal for Barahona,” said the official while participating alongside President Luis Abinader in the inauguration of the second phase of the Taíno Bay port in Puerto Plata.
Cruise tourism in the province where the country's vacation tourism history began is booming, with 56 ships projected to arrive this February alone. At the time of the opening yesterday, approximately 8,189 tourists disembarked from two cruise ships anchored in San Felipe Bay.
Abinader highlighted that the Dominican Republic is on its way to becoming the country that receives the most cruise tourism in the Caribbean, with 1 million 311 thousand passengers in 2022 and a projection of almost two million for 2023.
In this second stage at Taino Bay, the terminal's recreational area was expanded, and it now features three restaurants, one specializing in Dominican food, three bars, a Taino Villa, a pool area with a bar, a lazy river, ten food service establishments, a drop-off area for passengers, and 36 commercial premises.
The cruise and cargo terminal has three berths and the capacity to receive approximately 14,000 cruise passengers simultaneously. It will create 450 direct jobs.
Mauricio Hamui, CEO of ITM and Taíno Bay, announced that together with the Ministry of Culture they are working on the third stage of the port, for which the infrastructure in the San Felipe Fortress will be rehabilitated.
A busy year
In its first year of operation, Taíno Bay received over 350,000 tourists, fewer than the 750,000 projected in December 2021, when the first phase opened. The government and the company managing Taíno Bay expect to reach the 750,000 target this year, 2023.
Tourism Minister David Collado hopes that with the new facilities, the country will surpass The Bahamas in tourist arrivals, the only destination in the Caribbean that currently has more visitors. Collado said the Dominican Republic recently overtook Jamaica.
The first part of the project cost $80 million and the second part $15 million.
The arrival of cruise ships was announced by Royal Caribbean Cruises, Virgin Voyages, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, TUI Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Hamui reported that Taíno Bay will open its doors free of charge to families from Puerto Plata on Sundays, when there is no boat.
