New Highway to Drive Puerto Plata Hotel Growth
Infrastructure improvements are expected to drive Puerto Plata hotel growth as the Dominican government moves forward with the Santiago-Puerto Plata highway project. Valued at over RD$28,000 million, the highway is projected to reduce travel time between the two cities to under 25 minutes, according to official statements made during President Luis Abinader’s weekly agenda meeting in Santiago.
Ana Solange Marte September 14, 2026
Authorities believe the reduced travel time will integrate the economies of Santiago and Puerto Plata more closely, creating better conditions for attracting tourism, real estate, and service investments to the northern coast. The Punta Cana corridor after the Coral Highway opened in 2012 served as a reference for potential growth, with Punta Cana reportedly tripling in size and doubling its hotel room count to around 60,000.
Currently, the distance from Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata is comparable to that of Santo Domingo to Punta Cana—about 200 kilometers—but the journey to Puerto Plata can take up to 1.5 hours longer. With the new highway, Puerto Plata would become significantly more accessible from Santiago, potentially enabling coastal residency with inland employment and boosting visitor traffic to hotels and tourism projects.
The government says the highway will foster synergies between tourism, commerce, services, and real estate across Puerto Plata, Santiago, Espaillat, and La Vega. It is part of a broader strategy to revitalize northern coastal tourism, which also includes the development of Punta Bergantín as a new hotel expansion zone.
The highway is projected to be a transformative infrastructure project for the region, expected to accelerate Puerto Plata’s tourism and economic growth in the coming years. For more on regional tourism trends, read how Punta Cana’s growth challenges urban planning and Leonel Fernández’s proposal for a Punta Cana rail link.