by Brian Major
Last updated: 8:00 PM ET, Wed November 28, 2018
Palace Resorts executives broke ground Wednesday on a massive new Moon Palace Punta Cana resort. The $600- million, all-inclusive resort is the firm's first in the Dominican Republic and will be located in the Macao area of the popular Punta Cana resort district.
The resort is scheduled to open in 2021.
José Chapur, Palace Resorts president and managing director, hosted the ceremony, which was attended by Danilo Medina, the Dominican Republic's president, and Francisco Javier García, the minister of tourism.
The 2,149-room Moon Palace Punta Cana, the firm's third Moon Palace property, will create 5,000 local jobs during its construction phase and more than 4,000 permanent jobs "once occupancy reaches 95 percent," said Gibrán Chapur, Palace's executive vice president. The resort is projected to accommodate 250,000 potential new tourists per year, he said.
"Expanding the Moon Palace brand is part of our company's long-term growth strategy," said Gibran Chapur. "The development in the Dominican Republic was a natural fit for the expansion of the brand, given its popularity in the Caribbean."
Positioned 1,600 feet inland from the coastline, the property's 2,149 rooms will be spread out over 18 floors in a design that will occupy only six percent of the 1,200-acre development site owned by Palace, said officials. Seventy percent of the resort's rooms will offer ocean views while the remainder will face an 18-hole Greg Norman-designed golf course.
The resort will feature many culinary offerings, including 21 restaurants and seven bars. It will also include a spa, beach club, convention center, sports amenities, and several swimming pools.
Palace officials added that local natural resources, including the area's mangroves, will be preserved while the resort will also utilize renewable energy and water treatment systems that will permit residual use for irrigation purposes. Once operating, the resort will "boost the area's supply chain regarding food production and fishing," said officials.
Resort guests will be able to opt for any of several regional and local tours, including to excursions to the UNESCO World Heritage Site capital city of Santo Domingo.
"The [Dominican Republic] offers lush, tropical and paradisiacal miles of coastline, magnificent resorts and hotels, and a variety of sports, recreation and entertainment options," said Gibran Chapur. "We're here to add to and contribute to this country's goal of continually increasing the number of visitors that can generate a better income for its inhabitants."
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