Noticias

Since the mid-2000s, with the first steps taken by the Cisneros Group to develop its Tropicalia project, which marked the beginning of tourism development in the Miches destination, and to date, with the formation of the El Seibo-Miches Hotels and Tourism Association (Promiches), there is no concern that generates greater consensus among hoteliers than safeguarding the privileged state of the natural resources that the Miches destination possesses.

Not surprisingly, this is one of the ten priority investments contained in the Public-Private Agreement for the Tourism Development of Miches, signed last March by President Luis Abinader and the ministries involved, with the private sector leading hotel and real estate investments in the destination of Miches, made up of six projects for the next three years, totaling 3,500 rooms and more than 1,600 residential units.

With a coastline stretching approximately twelve kilometers between the mouth of the Jovero River and the Celedonio Channel, Playa Esmeralda boasts a privileged state of environmental conservation, projecting an image of intimacy and exclusivity. This almost unique situation has attracted investment from established business groups and internationally renowned companies seeking to differentiate their tourism offerings through a combination of luxury, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion.

The approach taken to conserve the main hotel and real estate development area of ​​Miches, Playa Esmeralda, can be considered innovative and an example of how useful it is to have investors in Miches who contribute their vast experience in order to develop a different tourism model, one that practices environmental respect and orderly social inclusion, not from public relations but from the business strategy itself, to make it a differentiating factor and, therefore, a competitive advantage.

The first major challenge is communication

To achieve this, a proactive public sector is required, one capable of making timely decisions and contributing its full technical expertise to find creative solutions to problems that lack simple answers. This is especially true when we are trying to manage the future and multidimensional impact of development.

Within the government alone, at least a dozen public institutions have prerogatives conferred by law or their organic regulations that impact maritime and coastal management: the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of the Environment, the Dominican Navy, the Tourist Police, the Ministry of Public Works, municipalities, municipal districts, the Port Authority, the Fisheries and Agriculture Council, the Emergency Operations Center, among others. Each of these institutions has different agendas and priorities, varying levels of local presence, and different budgets.

For any coastal management plan to work, the first step must be the coordination of the wills represented by each of these institutions and the establishment of a structure of communication and participation in the decisions that affect the coastal space that is intended to be managed.

Promiches began this task in February with the proposal to form the Public-Private Management Committee for Playa Esmeralda. This committee would be responsible for designing the necessary regulations and plans to ensure that the coastal area’s tourism development fully respects the area’s natural resources. It would oversee the enhancement of the area’s tourism value, emphasizing aspects such as: classification of beach zones; improvement of access (including public beach access); solid waste management; development of coastal infrastructure; quality of dunes and coastal vegetation; coral restoration; mangrove conservation; monitoring and protection of sea turtles; security; services (parking and restrooms outside the dunes); marketing of community-produced goods or artisanal products; and other essential aspects for proper and timely coastal management.

Comprehensive coastal management plan

With the working group now formed, the next step is to project the various scenarios that will need to be addressed in the coming years. The plan proposes identifying the environmental situation of Playa Esmeralda through an environmental inventory and a vulnerability study to climate change. This study should be based on the current and projected realities of the destination over the next five and ten years, taking into account the overall impact of all developments on the area, rather than the individual impact of each project. Based on this study, a comprehensive coastal management plan would be designed, outlining the various actions that must be avoided, modified, or compensated for in a timely manner to eliminate the risk of severe and irreversible environmental damage in this area designated for tourism development. In addition to implementing these actions, the public-private management group would promote the establishment of relevant regulations and standards.

This is a valuable exercise in projecting future risks, enabling us to make the necessary decisions for shaping the destination, moving beyond motivational rhetoric and unproductive aspirations. In this way, we envision an orderly tourism development in Miches, capable of integrating the area’s natural resources and community offerings into the tourism sector currently being developed, making it available to both locals and international visitors so they can discover, understand, enjoy, and protect it.