Miches: Logbook 2023
We closed 2023 with the consolidation of our Miches destination, boasting over 2,000 hotel rooms under construction. However, I don’t want to focus solely on impressive figures in this blog. In Miches, we are committed to quality and sustainability, and irrefutable proof of this commitment is the announcement of the country’s first (and only) Four Seasons hotel, which will open in Miches in early 2026 under the Four Seasons Dominicana República at Tropicalia brand by Cisneros Real Estate. This project represents an estimated investment of US$200 million and aims to achieve LEED certification, which evaluates sustainable buildings worldwide, from its inception.
Tropicalia will feature a 95-room luxury hotel and 25 residential units, all operated by Four Seasons; but, in reality, it is its exuberant nature, that almost magical composition integrated from different ecosystems, along with the delicate care that the Cisneros team—Tropicalia and Fundación Tropicalia, led by Adriana Cisneros and her vision of refocusing the national offering based on luxury and sustainability—has given it, that makes it a unique and pampered space, where the true luxury of this project and of our destination, in general, resides.
A second piece of great news has been the addition of the Hilton brand to the operators that will be joining us in the destination, in partnership with Zemí Hotels & Resorts, and just as Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda did with its Exclusive Collection brand, it “lands” with one of its top brands: Curio Collection by Hilton.
The idea behind Curio Collection by Hilton is to provide travelers with authentic, local experiences in luxurious and memorable settings. Each hotel in the collection is considered a unique gem that reflects the diversity and authenticity of its location. This philosophy aligns perfectly with the image of the Miches destination, setting it apart from the rest of the national offerings. We are therefore excited about the arrival of Curio Collection by Hilton to Miches and eagerly anticipate the opening of the Zemí Miches All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton, in mid-2024. The resort will be led by Frank Elías Rainieri, whose lifetime of experience provides invaluable guidance for the development of our destination, Miches.
For this same year, but during the high season, the start of operations is planned for Secrets/Dreams Playa Esmeralda with 500 rooms each, under the development of the Fuerte Group, of Spanish origin; and Viva Miches with 486 rooms in its first phase, under the leadership of Mr. Rafael Papo Blanco and the directors of the Viva Wyndham corporation, who in their own words describe the project as one “based on environmental sustainability and customer experiences, in a harmonious environment based on the orange economy, causing the guest to feel completely immersed in the culture, colors and flavors of Quisqueya.”
Finally, we celebrate the start of pre-sales for the multi-award-winning real estate project NOOM, a Mexican development in partnership with MARALDA of the Miches Development Group, headed by George A. Nader. With 240 residential units, expectations are especially high for the NOOM project in terms of architectural innovation and responsible management of the delicate environment of Laguna Redonda and its tributaries.
Having been able to launch the construction of these four projects during 2023, the private sector managed to mobilize another US$755 million of private investment to the new destination of Miches, in the province of El Seibo, which is beginning to reflect the impact of public and private investments made in the tourism sector since 2015, as evidenced by the Equity and Territorial Gaps in Development Report: Dominican Republic 2021, from the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development, in which El Seibo appears above the national average of the monetary poverty rate which is set at 23.9%.
Along with the US$300 million invested in 2019 and 2022 by Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda and Temptation Miches, respectively, the private sector is fulfilling (and exceeding) its commitment to the Dominican government to invest US$1 billion in Miches, signed through the Public-Private Agreement for the Tourism Development of Miches.
In terms of public investment, Miches has benefited enormously during 2023. While it has not been as expeditious a process as the private sector is accustomed to, the attention paid by the current government to ensure that the same mistakes made in the past in the planning (or lack thereof) and organization (or lack thereof) of tourist destinations are not repeated is appreciated.
The Miches-Tourist Zone aqueduct is progressing and remains an essential structure for sustainably supplying water to the destination, both now and in the future. INAPA’s development of the Miches-Tourist Zone aqueduct is effectively managing the risks associated with water supply, as options that rely solely on groundwater can create undesirable pressure on the resource and generate new problems in the short and medium term, with complex and costly solutions, as we are already seeing in other areas.
We expect that the Miches-Tourist Zone aqueduct will be inaugurated in 2024, which, complemented by the necessary private investment for water distribution to the properties of Playa Esmeralda, will guarantee a sustainable water supply for the number of rooms under development and to be developed in that hotel and real estate tourist zone for the next decade.
But we aspire to more. Collective water management opens a world of possibilities for protecting this essential resource for tourism development, the operation of businesses in the sector, and, essentially, for life itself. From the most basic, such as the collective treatment of wastewater for reuse in the system, especially for golf courses, to more sophisticated solutions like rainwater harvesting, the promotion of ecosystem restoration projects in the upper reaches of river basins, and perhaps… a water fund in Miches? We shall see.
In terms of land-use planning, both the municipality of Miches and the municipality of El Seibo were selected by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development as the first two to receive support in designing their land-use plans, within the framework of the recently approved Law on Land-Use Planning, Land Use and Human Settlements. Our experience supporting the process from the Miches Municipal Development Council has been, first and foremost, one of joy, given the importance and urgency of the Land-Use Plan as a tool for organizing development in Miches. However, we have also expressed concern about the uneven nature of the process in terms of the technical support provided to the members of the Municipal Development Council, who bear the significant responsibility of guiding and, ultimately, approving the principles upon which the Miches Land-Use Plan will be based.
Just before the end of the year, we agreed to work with the technical team of the Sustainable DO Trust on the design of a solution for the responsible management of solid waste, starting by addressing the needs of the tourist and hotel area of Playa Esmeralda, but with a phased integration schedule for nearby communities, so that initially an education and awareness program on the separation and recycling of waste is implemented and, subsequently, the communities are included in the collection routes of the new infrastructure.
Environmental Management is one of the areas I am most proud of at Promiches. During 2023, we dedicated significant efforts in terms of technical, human, financial, and reputational resources to implement an ambitious, innovative, comprehensive, and integrated plan that ensures the impact of tourism development and climate change on the coastal ecosystems that support our tourism offerings does not exceed their resilience, through a resilient and regenerative development model.
To this end, we have continued working intensively from the Public-Private Management Board of Playa Esmeralda, in defining the first management and conservation criteria for Playa Esmeralda, based on geomorphological characterization studies, environmental inventory (marine flora and fauna), granulometry and physical and chemical analysis of the water; carried out during the year in partnership with the German Cooperation for Development – GIZ, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), FUNDEMAR, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Tourism.
I anticipate that these management and conservation criteria will be approved in the first days of 2024, so that they will form the first Management and Conservation Plan for Playa Esmeralda, to be executed by the Management Committee and the tourism operators located in Playa Esmeralda, and with this we will have managed to implement a coastal management model in tourist areas that is unique in the country.
In parallel, this year we managed to formalize our relationship with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources for the implementation of the Miches Marine Turtle Monitoring and Protection Program Prototortoise. Within the framework of the collaboration agreement signed between the El Seibo-Miches Hotel and Tourism Association (Promiches) and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, we have developed an innovative and inclusive program that will allow us, in the medium term, to protect 50 km of beach in Miches and La Vacama. This effort is one of the five components of the Emerald Beach Management and Conservation Plan.
We have maintained our partnership with the El Cedro District Board, with whom we have successfully continued the cleanup efforts at Playa Esmeralda, in collaboration with MITUR/CEIZTUR. Furthermore, we have worked diligently on the planning for the implementation of the East Public Access to Playa Esmeralda, culminating in Resolution No. 119 of October 12, 2023. This resolution approves the regulations for the use of the East Public Access to Playa Esmeralda and, among other measures, designates the Artisan Market as a space for the sale of local handicrafts on Playa Esmeralda, prohibiting unregulated commercial activity within public beach areas. This municipal planning effort, with few precedents in the country, is the type of initiative that will make a difference in the tourism development of Miches and prevent problems such as disorder, insecurity, and urban sprawl, which often accompany tourism development when timely decisions are not made. There are numerous examples of this throughout the country.
The importance of the Artisan Market was evidenced by the repeated attempts of a group of vendors, mostly from Bávaro, to occupy the public spaces of Playa Esmeralda for the development of unregulated commercial activity, a very common practice in tourist destinations but also very harmful because it serves as a precedent to validate individual behaviors not regulated by local and national authorities, and which end up affecting the quality of the tourist product and promoting slum conditions, insecurity and the devaluation of properties.
At Promiches, we work year-round with the Ministry of Tourism, the El Cedro District Board, the Tourist Police, the National Police, and the Dominican Navy to manage this dynamic—new to our destination but well-known throughout the country—as effectively as possible, ensuring that public beach spaces remain free for the enjoyment of tourists and visitors, whether local, resident, or foreign. Meanwhile, returning to the concept of the Artisan Market, we support its orderly operation as a space for tourists and visitors to connect with community-based artisan offerings and, therefore, as a tool for the organized inclusion of local communities in the economic dynamics of tourism.
Finally, Promiches has signed an agreement with the Miches Limpio project, implemented by Caribe Circular (GIZ) and the Miches City Council, to collaborate on efforts to reduce single-use plastics in the municipality. As part of this commitment, Promiches and its affiliated projects have pledged to eliminate expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) from their operations and work towards eliminating all single-use plastics in the medium term.
While all this effort to protect our natural resources is exciting, we must be aware that it risks not being sustainable if we do not incorporate it into formal and official monitoring tools by the relevant institutions. Therefore, we have urged the Planning and Projects Department and the Vice Ministry of Destinations of the Ministry of Tourism to update the Tourism Territorial Planning Plan (POTT) in light of all the new technical and scientific information we have since its approval in 2012.
From the Playa Esmeralda Security Committee, we support the operations of law enforcement and security institutions in the municipality through regular meetings. These meetings allow us to monitor the security situation in the area and provide support to the National Police, POLITUR (Tourist Police), Dominican Navy, DIGESETT (General Directorate of Traffic Safety and Land Transportation), Fire Department, and Civil Defense, to the greatest extent possible. This public-private partnership at the operational level has proven highly effective in managing security situations in the Playa Esmeralda hotel and real estate tourism zone.
That said, in terms of investment, improving security is the major task pending for the Dominican government in Miches and in relation to the agreement signed with the tourism sector, represented by Promiches.
While this year we managed to put the Dominican Navy post in Playa Esmeralda into operation, built by CEIZTUR/MITUR with the support of Promiches and thanks to the Dominican Navy’s assistance, it is equally true that of the seventy National Police officers we require in the municipality, we only have thirty, and that of all the National Police stations in the municipality of Miches, only the one in the town of Miches is still standing (built thanks to a donation from Tropicalia). We have no stations in El Cedro, La Mina, or La Gina.
In 2021, Promiches donated a 2,000 square meter plot of land in La Mina, owned by Agroindustrias Carlyle Sees, a Founding Member and Director of Promiches. However, it has been impossible to complete the Category 3 barracks included in the Public-Private Agreement for the Tourism Development of Miches, which is urgently needed for the orderly development of this community, the closest to the hotel and real estate tourism zone of Playa Esmeralda, and therefore the most sensitive to the social impact that comes with tourism development.
Under the same working model, we are coordinating with the Ministry of Tourism so that CEIZTUR can build the POLITUR headquarters in Playa Esmeralda, Miches, given that this law enforcement institution does not have any infrastructure in the entire municipality to house its operations and personnel.
In terms of destination promotion, we couldn’t ask for more. 2023 began with the presentation of Miches as an emerging destination at the Madrid Tourism Fair (FITUR), by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, and the president of Promiches, Yamil Isaías; and it ended with the news that Miches has been included in the efforts of the Vice Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of Tourism to design the destination brand, an effort to which we will pay special attention during 2024.
There’s no doubt that 2023 was a very productive year. I could say that we reap what we sow. Clearly, the process of developing a tourist destination involves multiple processes of varying natures. I’m convinced that we will succeed in implementing the vision of a destination distinguished by innovative architecture, top-notch services, low density, and a tourism offering capable of responsibly showcasing the lush natural beauty and cultural expressions of Miches, only to the extent that we demonstrate the ability to perceive changes and adapt, lead by example, take calculated risks that allow us to be innovative, and work diligently for the common good. The coming years will be crucial in shaping Miches’ tourism development model. Will you stay and see how it all turns out?
