It’s big news.

After being away for three decades, the major cruise lines are coming back to the North Coast.

For the foreseeable future, Puerto Plata will be home to a berthing facility for cruise ships—what’s known as a “home port”. 

Being a home port is hugely significant. The home port is where the cruise ship starts and/or ends its journey.

So passengers will come to Puerto Plata to begin their cruise and leave from Puerto Plata when it’s over. In a year or so, this means there will be an additional 1 million tourists each year in the area.

That’s huge.

Importantly, the return of cruise ships means a 20 year commitment by each company into the area. 

Over the next two decades, the cruise lines are going to promote Puerto Plata and the entire North Coast as a destination.

Not only will they increase the demand for products and services, they’ll need places to stay. And increasingly, discerning tourists are looking to stay in villas and condos, rather than hotels.

So if you own a quality property on the North Coast, you can expect to see a good return in years to come.

Investment by the Tourism Industry is Going to Snowball

It’s no surprise that other big players in the tourism and hospitality industries are making investments too.

Marriott and Hilton have committed to build (or are already building) new hotels in the area. Numerous villa and condo developments are being renovated.

Government Investment in Infrastructure

These changes have put a lot of positive pressure on the central government in Dominican Republic to upgrade and build new infrastructure. 

It isn’t just upgrades to roads, but also the entire downtown of Puerto Plata in and around the Port of San Felipe. There, you’ll see all kinds of remodelling, repairs and upgrades.

All to accommodate the million new cruise ship passengers who will be disembarking straight into the downtown area.