Just Back from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

We’ve just returned from DATE, the annual tourism conference in the Dominican Republic. This year the show, which is attended by travel professionals and media, was held in one of the country’s fastest growing areas: Punta Cana.

Our home based for the conference was the newly-opened Paradisus Palma Real, an upscale all-inclusive that’s great for romantic travelers.

Punta Cana International Airport	Our room at Paradisus Palma Real

We arrived in Punta Cana aboard American Airlines at the Punta Cana International Airport, distinctive for its tall, thatched roofs. It was about a 20-minute ride out to Paradisus Palma Real, located in the Bavaro area, north of the airport.

We quickly checked in and then met our group—travel writers from around North America including many old friends—in the lobby for a tour of the resort. The property is a massive one with a large selection of restaurants and bars, a casino, spa and an exclusive “royal” club with special amenities including butler service. Even the traditional guest rooms, like ours, were large and elegant.

After our property tour, it was time to meet everyone for the evening’s dinner and show. Many all-inclusives have an evening show but this was a far larger production: this was the hotel’s grand opening, an event celebrated with lots of music and dance and a spectacular dinner.

The next day it was down to the business of DATE with press conferences from the hotel association, minister of tourism and several hotel properties.

Press conference at DATE

This was our first trip to Punta Cana in almost two years and the press conference confirmed what we noticed on the way in from the airport: the Dominican Republic, and especially Punta Cana, is booming.

In 1980, the Dominican Republic welcomed 380,000 tourists…last year, 3.7 million visitors came here. While there’s growth around the country (located on an island shared with Haiti), the lion’s share of this development is around Punta Cana. Over 15,000 new hotel rooms are under construction, most in this area.

We went out that afternoon to visit the construction site of Cap Cana, a huge complex that will eventually include everything from a massive marina to hotels and condos to golf.

Miss Dominican Republic at the DR night festivities	Us at DR night

Soon it was back to our hotel for a quick change for dinner, a special Dominican night for DATE delegates hosted by Ocean Blue, a newly opened all-inclusive resort that had a nice feature: a whole “street “ of specialty restaurants for guests to enjoy, all in one package price. That night, however, they’d set up a Dominican buffet for the hundreds of delegates, followed by a fireworks show and traditional dancing.

The next morning it was time to work with additional press conferences covering several new hotels. When the press conferences convened, we were headed off for the exhibit floor to talk with individual hoteliers and tour operators.

But all work and no play is no fun, even at a conference, so by afternoon it was time to enjoy the resort like travelers—strolling on the wide beach, lying by the pool, and even indulging in a half-hour massage at the expansive spa.

Our last night’s dinner was a press-only function, a fun time for us to talk with our fellow journalists, many of whom we’ve known for years. We all met at Bana, the hotel’s Asian restaurant for a tasting of all the incredible menu items.

As we write this, we’re heading back home, flying somewhere over the Turks and Caicos and already looking forward to our next trip.