Pedernales Province
$9.5B tourism megaproject (2023-2033); Bahía de las Águilas pristine 8km beach; 74% poverty rate with 45,000 jobs projected; 12,000 hotel rooms planned.
Pedernales Province is receiving the largest single tourism investment in Dominican history: a $9.5 billion development plan spanning 2023-2033, with $1.475 billion committed for the first phase. The centerpiece is Bahía de las Águilas—a pristine 8km beach inside Jaragua National Park that repeatedly ranks among the Caribbean's most beautiful. Iberostar, Hyatt, Wyndham, Hilton, and Marriott have committed to 12,000 hotel rooms by 2033, with La Quinta's 110-room property opening in summer 2025.
The scale of transformation is unprecedented. The project includes an international airport, cruise terminal, renewable energy infrastructure, and affordable housing for workers. The Ministry of Economy projects 45,333 direct jobs by 2033, with 5,000 already created by 2025. Yet Pedernales currently has 74% poverty and 54% female unemployment—among the nation's worst. This is deliberate: the government is betting that massive investment can transform the Dominican Republic's most marginalized border province into a tourism showcase.
By 2026, Pedernales will provide an early test of whether mega-development can coexist with ecological preservation. Bahía de las Águilas exists precisely because remoteness protected it; hotels and airports change that calculus. If eco-friendly design commitments hold and local hiring reaches promised levels, the province could demonstrate how tourism reverses poverty. If construction overwhelms conservation or Haiti's border crisis scares investors, the $9.5 billion bet may underdeliver on both development and preservation.