Tourism Ministry Congratulates Punta Cana Group on its 40th Anniversary

Tourism Minister, Francisco Javier García Fernández, congratulated the Punta Cana Group on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. “It is an example of tourism development in the Caribbean region and a symbol of social and environmental responsibility,” said the Minister.

“We call on everyone to follow the example of [this group] that has persevered these 40 years…”

Mr. García Fernández said the Punta Cana Group, whose president is Frank Rainieri, is one of the pillars of the economy in that it is one of the most important generators of income and employment within the Dominican economy. “We call on everyone to follow the example of [this group] that has persevered these 40 years. The Punta Cana Group and President Frank Rainieri have forged a company that is world renowned for its activities and has been the object of international recognition,” he said.

García Fernández said that Rainieri, along with his wife Haydee Kuret, current president of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES) have formed an exemplary business consortium in the tourism management and development sector and that their actions have helped to position and maintain Punta Cana as one of the most visited places in the Caribbean region, according to the Press and Communications Office of the Tourism Ministry (SECTUR).

In 1969, a group of North American investors acquired 58 million square meters, equivalent to 48 square kilometers of pure jungle in the extreme eastern part of the Dominican Republic. Shortly after that, a group of local investors, led by businessman Frank R. Rainieri, joined them. It is this group that had the vision to develop this area for tourism.

Punta Cana enjoys a year-round temperature of between 70 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit with less than 800 millimeters of annual rainfall which, along with the coral reef barrier that keeps the ocean’s crystal clear water calm, the soft breeze and white sand encouraged UNESCO to declare these beaches truly exceptional and unique in the world.

Under the direction of Dominican Frank R. Rainieri and North American Theodore W. Kheel, the Tourism, Residential and Industrial Development Company, S.A. (CODDETREISA in Spanish), today called the Punta Cana Group, began developing the property in 1971 with the inauguration of a small hotel known as the Punta Cana Club, which consisted of ten 2-room cabañas, a clubhouse, a small area for the employees, an electric plant and a very basic landing strip for small planes. At its fullest capacity, this little hotel was able to accommodate 40 people.

In 1978 with the construction of the first 350-room hotel by Club Med of Paris, France, the Dominican government began construction on a highway to connect Punta Cana with the rest of the country’s highway system.

Now, after 40 years, the Punta Cana Group includes the Punta Cana Beach and Golf, the Airport Corporation of the East, the Punta Cana Yacht Club, the Punta Cana Touristic and Services Corporation and Guardians of the East.

The Punta Cana Group owns Los Corales, which is an area of land where important international personalities such as Julio Iglesias, Oscar de la Renta and Mikhail Baryshnikov, have built their villas. In addition, Punta Cana is the home of the Punta Cana Marina, the Punta Cana Residential, the Biodiversity and Sustainability Center and the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation.

Frank Rainieri, President of the Punta Cana Group; Haydee Kuret de Rainieri, President of ASONAHORES; Francisco Javier García, Minister of Tourism and Jeannie Hernández de García, wife of the Tourism Minster.