After the discarding of Barahona as an option for air connection for tourists to the incipient tourist pole of Pedernales due to logistic and distance issues, the Government is already preparing the preparations for the public bidding of a new airport to be located in the municipality of Oviedo, 22 minutes away from Cabo Rojo.
“We are launching the public bidding for the Pedernales airport on November 20,” revealed Sigmund Freund, general director of Public-Private Alliances to Diario Libre, who pointed out that construction is expected to begin at the end of 2024, so that the work will be ready by December 2025.
He detailed that it will have a runway of 3.1 kilometers for the landing of airplanes. “The runway is going to be the size of the Las Américas (Las Américas International Airport, but the terminal is going to be very similar to the Higüero (La Isabela International Airport),” he said by way of example.
Operated by the State
Freund said that there are both local and international companies that have already expressed their interest in the construction of this project, including Korean, Spanish, Mexican, and Canadian companies.
But he indicated that, although the construction of the infrastructure will be put out to bid, it is planned that the State will be in charge of the airport’s operations.
The infrastructure would be managed through the Pro-Pedernales trust and later it would pass to the Cabo Rojo Tourism Corporation, a commercial corporation attached to the Ministry of the Presidency, which would be in charge of the multiple projects within the development of this tourist pole.
“We are going to require in these bids that there be a minimum experience in airport construction. Then, we will be in charge of the operation. In other words, it will be carried out by the trust and then by the corporation “Sigmund FreundGeneral Director APP”.
Recently, the Executive Branch proposed the creation of this legal figure through a bill that has already been submitted to the National Congress for its consideration.
He explained that this will be so, because there are technical characteristics inherent to the nature of this infrastructure, among other airport criteria with which it has to comply. Freund understands that these tasks can be executed by high-level construction companies in the country “without any kind of problem”.
3.1 kilometers
The Cabo Rojo International Airport runway will cover 3.1 kilometers.
“But we are going to require in those bids that there be a minimum experience in airport construction. Then, we will be in charge of the operation. In other words, the trust will manage it and then the corporation,” he said.
Although it should be noted that, if this commercial corporation is created, it would have the participation of private partners, both in operations and capital, in its conformation.
Two years of construction
According to the head of the DGAPP, the construction of the project would take between 18 to 24 months, so an alternative that facilitates the arrival of non-resident tourists to the first three hotels in the area which will provide a total of 1,110 rooms and would be ready for the high season of 2024-is already foreseen.
“We are working with the Ministry of Tourism on an operation in which we can look for a kind of air bridge, find a way for tourists coming to Santo Domingo or Punta Cana to take another plane and land at the Cabo Rojo aerodrome,” Freund said.
The Cabo Rojo aerodrome has capacity for small and medium-sized airplanes.
According to the work execution schedule, by the time the airport is inaugurated in December 2025 and starts operating in 2026, “at least four or five more hotels” should be in operation to guarantee the benefits of the project through the flow of passengers.
However, the authorities project that at least the first two years of the project will be loss-making, “as happens with any type of business”.
Pedernales: the attraction at Fitur 2024
The Dominican Republic will dedicate its stand to Pedernales as the central destination of the offer it has to offer to attract new visitors at the International Tourism Fair (Fitur), which will be held in Ecuador from January 24 to 28 next year.
The general director of Public-Private Alliances, Sigmund Freund, explained to Diario Libre that the advances in the Tourism Development Plan of Cabo Rojo make the tourist pole of Pedernales “already a reality”, even more than other destinations which have been promoted in this international event, such as Miches, in the province of El Seibo and Punta Bergantín, in Puerto Plata.
“With Pedernales, we can show the results of the constructions”, he highlighted, referring to the three hotels that are under the execution of the development companies Ray Construction, Terrestra, and Obinsa.
Fitur 2024 will be held in Ecuador, as a new partner of this international event. During the four-day event, more than 8,500 exhibiting companies, some 136,000 professionals from the tourism sector, and around 86,000 visitors and the general public are expected to participate.
Nine hotels in the first phase
The tourism development project in Cabo Rojo includes the construction of nine hotels to be operated by Iberostar, Hilton, Marriott, Sunwing, Inclusive Collection Part, Hyatt, and Karisma Hotels & Resort. Other international groups, such as the Spanish-owned hotel chain Meliá, have submitted letters of interest to join the tourist destination in the other phases.
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