by Joe Pike
Last updated: 6:00 PM ET, Thu June 21, 2018
After years of waiting for Puerto Rico to open its first all-inclusive resort, it appears as though the traveling public will have to wait a little longer.
AMResort's planned Dreams Resorts & Spas property that was supposed to open sometime this year in Puerto Rico joins the long list of hotels to suffer a setback due to last year's hurricane season.
Javier Coll, executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Apple Leisure Group (ALG), the parent company of AMResorts, told TravelPulse that the "project is facing a significant delay due to some permits that haven't been approved yet."
Coll told TravelPulse Hurricane Maria hitting the island last year made this process more challenging because the involved government offices were closed for a long time. While ALG waited for them to reopen, one of the permits ALG already had expired and had to be renewed, said Coll. When the hotel opens, it will represent the destination's only all-inclusive.
Coll said no other details were available because the application is currently active and ALG doesn't "want to interfere with the process."
After years of rumors that AMResorts was looking to expand to Puerto Rico and become the destination's only all-inclusive resort, the company inked a deal in late 2016 to build a Dreams Resort in Guanica, Puerto Rico.
The Dreams resort in Puerto Rico Resort will be located 73 miles southwest of San Juan and 21 miles west of the city of Ponce and will have 250 rooms.
It is also minutes away from Guanica Dry Forest, a UNESCO-designated world biosphere reserve and located directly offshore from where "Gilligan's Island" destination shots were filmed.
"I recommend an all-inclusive there more now than before because the hard part has already been taken care of by the hotel," said Caribbean travel expert Stephen Scott, an advisor with Travel Hub 365 in Chicago about AMResorts' multi-year pursuit to secure a deal for an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Rico.
Scott said an all-inclusive, especially one with the reputation that AMResorts has, will only continue to help a destination that is already seeing bounce-back in business since it was devastated by last year's hurricane seasons.
"Puerto Rico is open for business and we are not seeing a slowdown, but an uptick in requests," said Scott, who noted that his agency has booked three Puerto Rico vacations this month alone. "One thing that has not changed is the passport situation. It's still a non-passport destination for Americans. There is a comfort and ease for many travelers from the states."
And although travelers probably shouldn't expected the Dreams property to open this year in Puerto Rico, Terrah Van Meter of Legacy Travel in Plano, Texas thinks the timing will still work out for Puerto Rico.
"The culture is more colorful and lively than ever in Puerto Rico, so it's perfect timing," said Van Meter. "Americans will flock to an all-inclusive resort that doesn't require a passport, so it should do well."
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