Noticias

If there’s one thing our tourism development has lacked, it’s order. Our prime examples demonstrate this. In traditional destinations, the sector’s leading business figures developed their projects in virtually untouched areas, attracting the attention of other investors and people who settled nearby to take advantage of the new opportunities. This occurred with little to no government involvement in planning, regulation, organization, and service development. By the time the government finally intervened, numerous opportunities had already been lost. Disorder and improvisation had taken hold of the modus operandi of the stakeholders joining the sector as it grew, exacerbating problems and acting like cancerous cells that compromised the well-being of the area as they developed. Now, they face the paradox of insufficient resources to address all the challenges that arose due to the lack of planning, and the longer these challenges remain unaddressed, the more complex and costly they become to resolve.

The case of Miches presents an opportunity to do things differently, by anticipating the main risks inherent in tourism development and organizing public and private investment to manage these risks efficiently. Last week, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, announced the start of work on developing services at Playa Esmeralda in Miches. This project will include the construction of parking facilities, restrooms, showers, a station for the Dominican Navy, another for the Tourist Police, and a craft market. This 51 million peso investment is scheduled to be completed over the next four months, with the project expected to be finished by early 2022.

But far from being a mere investment in service infrastructure, the development of these facilities is part of the strategic plan for the development of Playa Esmeralda, the main area for hotel and real estate development, where the construction of 3,500 rooms and 1,624 villas is planned over the next three years. Of these, 335 are already operating under the Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda, and another 1,000 are under construction and will become operational between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. This represents progress on the commitments made by both the public and private sectors, signed between the Dominican government and the El Seibo-Miches Hotel and Tourism Association (Promiches).

The infrastructure to be developed by CEIZTUR/MITUR at Playa Esmeralda will enhance the tourist experience offered to visitors by providing comfort, safety, and hygiene. This will be accompanied by a management effort to ensure its proper operation and timely maintenance, guaranteeing its long-term sustainability. To this end, the Playa Esmeralda Public-Private Management Committee, comprised of technical experts from the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Dominican Navy, the Tourist Police, and the National Environmental Protection Service, along with Promiches, will be making recommendations to local and national authorities for the design and implementation of a management manual for this beach area and the establishment of the necessary regulations.

It is important to note that the infrastructure announced by Minister Collado will be developed starting 150 meters from high tide, with total respect for the dunes and coastal vegetation and with pedestrian access to the dune, without filling, whose route will avoid deforesting species of high environmental value, such as the royal palm, setting a clear example of the type of tourist development that is expected for this area.

This is how, in Playa Esmeralda, Miches, coastal space planning and management measures are implemented to anticipate and mitigate the environmental and social risks of tourism development. This is achieved through projecting increased visitation in the area, classifying beach spaces according to their uses, analyzing the acceptable change limits of the beaches, and developing infrastructure that not only raises the level of competitiveness of the destination but also guarantees an organized and environmentally responsible use of the enviable natural resources that the destination possesses.

In this way, the negative results obtained in the development of other coastal areas for tourism are avoided, areas that eventually become affected by “slumification,” inadequate solid waste management, increased crime, and commercial sexual exploitation. Meanwhile, environmental pressure indicators are kept under control, and a tourism product consistent with the desired image for our country’s tourism brand and meeting national and international demand is offered.