Miches: 2022 Logbook
The year 2022 has been one of the most productive years I’ve witnessed #fromMiches, since 2015, when the Uvero Alto – Miches highway was inaugurated. This initiative, spearheaded by President Leonel Fernández’s administration and officially opened by President Danilo Medina, was promoted by the Cisneros Group to facilitate the development of tourism in this emerging destination by connecting it to the country’s main airport. This measure was essential given the impossibility of building an international airport locally, due to the area’s rugged geography, dominated by the Eastern Cordillera.
This year began with the presentation of the Miches destination at FITUR, by Minister David Collado and the president of Promiches, Yamil Isaías, as a new initiative by the Dominican government to diversify the national tourism offerings. Shortly after, in February, President Luis Abinader referred to it during his State of the Nation address before the National Congress, highlighting the Public-Private Partnership Agreement for the Tourism Development of Miches, signed between the El Seibo-Miches Hotel and Tourism Association (Promiches) and the Dominican government. This agreement outlines nine priority areas of public investment to ensure the orderly, sustainable, and distinctive development of the new Miches destination.
Within the Promiches Action Plan, we have made great progress during 2022.
Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda has managed to overcome the challenges imposed by the pandemic, and has consolidated itself with a not inconsiderable 75% average occupancy for this year 2022, thanks to a specialized offer under its Exclusive Collection seal; this property being the first with this seal in all of America.
In parallel, we have begun construction on one of our most anticipated hotel and real estate projects: unique, authentic, and reflecting the deep connection of those responsible for this project to the eastern region and the country. This is the Zemí Hotels project, featuring architecture based on our Taíno heritage. Similarly, the Dreams and Secrets hotels are under construction; meanwhile, Viva Miches has completed access to its property and is preparing to begin construction, and more recently, Temptation Miches and Temptation Grand Miches opened, further solidifying the destination, which currently boasts 831 rooms in operation and 1,520 under construction. This represents a total investment of $779,000,000.
In terms of public investment, Miches is experiencing a historic moment. And this is not mere rhetoric; the current government, led by Luis Abinader, is currently investing over 1.5 billion Dominican pesos in the municipality of Miches alone.
In March of this year, the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA) awarded the contract for the construction of the Miches-Tourist Zone aqueduct. This water supply solution is designed to serve the town of Miches, with a capacity five times its current population of over 10,000, and the Playa Esmeralda tourist, hotel, and real estate area. It will be complemented by private investment for water distribution among the various properties, providing more innovative and responsible water supply options than groundwater, thus preventing contamination from intrusion or salinization. This public investment, valued at 1,330,000,000 Dominican pesos, will be followed by additional private investment for water distribution among the properties. This solution will necessarily have to be accompanied by efforts to measure the situation of water sources in the upper basin of the Jovero, La Yeguada and Santiago rivers, which will be more strategic than ever for the subsistence of the communities and the development of the area.
At Promiches, we have initiated discussions with the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, which are implementing the Resilient Seibo project, to support efforts to establish more sustainable agricultural production models, particularly livestock farming, in the river basins. This will facilitate reforestation and improve water flow. Additionally, we have made available to the project the environmental studies previously conducted by Tropicalia, a founding member of Promiches, so that this information can be used effectively and resources can be utilized as efficiently as possible.
In June, we received a visit from Mr. Angel de la Cruz, president of the Provincial Development Commission, to break ground on the Category III police station in the community of La Mina, the closest to the tourist, hotel, and real estate zone of Playa Esmeralda. This station will house the National Police, the DICRIM (Criminal Investigations Department), and the DNCD (National Drug Control Directorate), with an investment of 15,000,000 Dominican pesos. The construction of this station, for which the private sector donated 2,000 square meters of land owned by Agroindustrias Carlyle Sees, a Founding Member of Promiches, is strategic for improving security in the area, anticipating population growth due to immigration. Together with the recently inaugurated Dominican Navy and POLITUR (Tourist Police) posts in Playa Esmeralda, it will result in a substantial improvement in security for the destination. To ensure this, Promiches has coordinated the formation of the Playa Esmeralda Security Committee, with the advice of the Punta Cana Group and the East Hotel Security Committee.
My experience with the Playa Esmeralda Security Committee, I must say, like any new venture, is bittersweet but addictive. It’s painstaking work, like building and maintaining relationships with the various law enforcement agencies, designing joint plans, defining support from the private sector, coordinating those plans to ensure their efficient implementation (the most difficult part), and even acting as a psychologist for everyone involved. However, little by little, as unhealthy interests arise around the destination, it becomes like a child, something one grows increasingly wary of and protective of. Therefore, the functioning of instruments like the Security Committee is key to protecting this new “child” that the destination and its people have become. Through the work of the Playa Esmeralda Security Committee, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, allocated a pickup truck and motorcycle to POLITUR (the Tourist Police), in addition to increasing the number of personnel assigned by Brigadier General Minoru Matsunaga, Director of POLITUR. These resources were urgently needed to continue our security work in the area.
A landmark event for the destination occurred in August with the Ministry of Tourism’s approval of Resolution DJ-12/2022, which prohibits the use of horses and motor vehicles, as well as helicopter landings, on Playa Esmeralda in Miches, El Seibo province. This courageous and effective coastal management measure puts an end to long-standing misuse practices in the area, so much so that they have become ingrained in the local culture as part of the normal use of Miches’ beaches. Furthermore, with tourism development, vehicular traffic—including horses, motorcycles, ATVs, buggies, buses, and even helicopters—had increased to absurd levels, far exceeding the coastal ecosystem’s capacity for self-restoration and rendering it unsustainable. This is especially critical for the maintenance of the dunes, coastal vegetation, and optimal nesting conditions for the leatherback sea turtle.
As is normal, regulation alone has not been enough, so the presence and work of POLITUR, reinforcing and enforcing it, as well as the commitment of the private sector represented by Promiches and the Association of Tour Operators of the province, has been the differentiating element in achieving the success of this measure.
In September, we were surprised by Fiona, which made a triumphant entry through the eastern region as a hurricane. The damage in Miches was devastating, especially to homes in rural areas and to agriculture. The contribution of the private sector and NGOs, working alongside local governments before, during, and after the storm, was a critical element in the response strategy. I wrote about this here.
However, not even Fiona’s strong winds can stop the development process in #Miches. During September and October, we held meetings with the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Tourism Organization, and the German Cooperation Agency – GIZ. These meetings resulted in agreements that allowed us to conduct characterization and baseline studies of the coastal zone using photogrammetry, with partners such as the Dominican Foundation for Marine Studies – FUNDEMAR. This will later enable us to design coastal management and conservation policies directly related to the unique natural context of Playa Esmeralda. All of this is happening just before the start of construction on the large hotel projects—a golden opportunity that Miches offers us to, as we say at Promiches, learn from past experiences to do things right from the beginning.
The support of the Ministry of Tourism, through the Vice Ministry of Destinations, headed by Vice Minister Patricia Mejia, along with Adrián Jiménez Garrido and Paola Miranda from her team; as well as the Department of Planning and Projects (DPP), directed by Architect Shaney Peña Gómez, and specifically, the recently created Department of Beach Management, with its first head, Architect Elia Mariel Martínez Moisés, has been a major boost in the design and implementation of all the planning, management, and sustainability initiatives that we at Promiches have proposed for Playa Esmeralda. It is no coincidence that Playa Esmeralda has been chosen as a pilot site for the design of coastal management measures, as well as policies for socio-economic inclusion and the regulation of commercial activity in coastal public spaces.
Additionally, we have been able to maintain our solid waste management program in Playa Esmeralda, in an alliance between CEIZTUR/MITUR-Promiches-El Cedro Municipal District, which, thanks to the close supervision and excellent disposition of Lorna Carrasco Padilla, has proven to be very efficient and has allowed us to go from this:
To this:
I must also mention the ongoing support of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. First and foremost, from the Vice Ministry of Coastal and Marine Resources, starting with Vice Minister José Ramón Reyes and his entire team, including my now personal friend, admired and dear Jonathan Delance. Also, the Vice Ministry of Climate Change and Sustainability, led by Vice Minister Milagros De Camps and her team, who also maintain an open-door policy regarding everything related to Miches, especially within the framework of the Resilient El Seibo project. Special mention should be made of Juan Manuel Cuervo, Central General Coordinator, and the Provincial Directorate of El Seibo, who are always attentive to the needs of the region.
In December, we celebrated the inauguration of the East Public Access to Playa Esmeralda, a project with a public investment of 52,000,000 Dominican pesos, for which the private sector, represented by Promiches, contributed 100,000 square meters of land. The project included parking for 50 vehicles: buses, cars, and motorcycles; a post for the Dominican Navy and the Tourist Police (POLITUR); restrooms and showers with access for people with disabilities; pedestrian access to the beach; a lookout point; and a protective barrier around the dune.
One particularly important component, deserving of special mention, is the Artisan Market. This space serves as a meeting point between community offerings and visitor demand, promoting local culture as a tourist attraction and generating income to improve the quality of life for locals through tourism. In this way, organized and dignified spaces for socio-economic inclusion are ensured, adding value to the tourism offering by incorporating aspects that only local culture and folklore can provide. This makes the tourism model of #Miches truly inclusive, because it transforms tourism into an activity that benefits everyone.
The vision is to make this space a small representation of Miches, attracting not only visitors to Playa Esmeralda but also hotel guests. We’re promoting the Public Access area within the hotels so guests can enjoy, for example, a traditional Dominican sancocho or dulce de leche prepared right in front of them, a glimpse into the Miches carnival, a performance based on the history of Miches, or an acoustic concert with a local artist. All of this will be accompanied by natural drinks, local crafts and products, and above all, that unmistakable Dominican and Miches flavor that foreigners love so much. We’ll do it with order, cleanliness, security, and respect for local culture and the environment. First-class Dominican tourism. That’s what we’re doing in #Miches.
There’s no doubt that sharing this story today, at the end of the year, in the comfort of my home, while my daughters demand I get off the computer and spend time with them, has a special kind of nostalgia. But building a future is hard, risky, and requires vision and patience.
From my position as Interinstitutional Relations Manager at Tropicalia, I’ve been in Miches for twelve years now, and as Executive Director of Promiches for two and a half years. I can only express my gratitude to the great entrepreneurs who keep the torch burning high, some through their investments and others from positions of power, to elevate Miches and, with it, the standard of tourism development in our country. It is an honor for me to dedicate my greatest efforts and commitment to making their dream of prosperity, development, and social justice for the country a reality. Nothing makes me prouder.
