NEW YORK TIMES: HOUSE HUNTING IN THE DR

Please take a look at this recent article posted by the New York times on the benefits of owning in the DR and the north cost area of the island.

They specifically reference or local real estate agency Select Caribbean Properties and Sabine Mertes.  A big trend that they note in the article about a slow market uptrend with direct reference to cost of living and lifestyle on the north coast of the DR.  Worth you time to read this article. 

www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/realestate/house-hunting-in-the-dominican-republic.html

DR TOURISM CAMPAIGN

The Ministry of tourism has recently announced that it's launched a major ad campaign around "smiles". They are spending over 10M on this new campaign that will host the countries best and most popular locations. You can see the results of this on www.godominicanrepublic.com. The good news that our host country is putting their money and creativity behind their best assets.

CHINA AIRLINES

It might be hard to believe but the increased level of interest from the Chinese tourists to the DR has prompted Chinas largest airlines to meet with the DR Foreign minister Miguel Vargas and announce that they are striking new deals to service the DR tourism market to its countries citizens. This goes hand in hand with other meetings recently taking place about very large alternate energy investments that China is making into the DR. All good news for elevated awareness and benefits projects for the DR people and infrastructure of tourism and energy.

35 BILLION IN VISITOR INCOME

Over the past six years, the DR Government has recently published that $35 Billion dollars are reported in income from visitors. This is in keeping with the growth in arrivals, tourism and economic Indicators around the general economic increase. On an annualized basis the income from visitors is $5.8 billion which brought massive growth, job creation and much-needed infrastructure spending and increased number of hotel rooms.

CONSTRUCTION JUMPS TO 6.7%.

Another key sign that the DR economy is moving along at a very healthy pace. When the construction industry on the private side is matching or equally pacing with growth, we can all be assured that the private sector is responding to the demands of the economy.

DR TOURISM TO JUNE 2018

In a very recent article, it's been reported that the island of Dominican Republic received 3.4M tourists since June of 2018. As noted this is a 6.1% increase from the period of January to June from the previous year. Another great sign that travel and tourism continue to grow and expand. This clearly supports our vision with LOE to offer a Luxury alternative on the private beach Luperon Ocean estates for our future guests.

SOLAR FIELDS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Well its about time. We have spoken in support of renewable energy for DR as well as our own development for some time now, and for all the right reasons. The island uses mainly fossil fuel to create energy all over the island. The cost per kilowatt is very high be comparison to North America. The DR government has made a big effort bring in outside partners and funding to begin the process of adding alternative solar and wind farms to the island. In the Dominican today they have announced an new 58 Megawatt solar park to start in Medina. Every bit of this helps. The DR has the largest economy and fastest growing in the Caribbean. Supporting alternative sustainable energy on an island that has an strong supply of wind and sun, makes perfect sense for all concerned. This aspect will only continue to grow. We announced a few weeks ago that a 100MW wind farm was announced on the far north coast. Another good measure for the islands infrastructure.

WIND SURFING LOE

Next in our series of Outdoor lifestyle posters: Caribbean Windsurfing. We have natural and consistent on-shore winds of 6-9 miles per hour. The water just off the coral reef at Playa la Ballena is ideal for windsurfing right out our back door. The north coast and in particular Cabarete are the windsurfing capital of the Western hemisphere. There are more wind and kite surfers than you can imagine in the winter season. Take a break from the crowded waters of Cabarete and launch your windsurfer at Luperon Ocean Estates

TOURISM RISE UP TO JUNE 2018

As we have been publishing, the first 6 months of 2018 have risen 6.1% over last year. The largest volume of this increase is from North America, then Europe and South America to follow. The country tourism bureau has set their sights on number one spot again and based on the first half of this year, they will do it again. This is great news for all the lot owners.Increased tourism benefits all local business groups and rental rates and occupancy for rentable rooms.

More to come…

Caribbean Surf at LOE

Next in our series of outdoor lifestyle posters: Caribbean Surf.  Yes this is real and very popular on the north coast of Dominican Republic.  All along the north cost there are gentle swells that locals have surfed for years.

Long rollers are visible just to the east of Playa La Ballena at Cambiaso bay.  On your next trip bring your board and spend a morning or later afternoon surfing the north coast.

Tourism is the Future of the Dominican Republic

This is not a big secret but re-affirmed by Asonahores, the association of hotels and tourism of Dominican Republic. This very recent posting in May 2018 about the continued importance of tourism long term for the island is real and will prove to be more beneficial than most other forms of the DR economy. The country is partnering with a large number of hotel groups in all the major destinations on the island to fund, promote and support the growth of hospitality ventures to fill the short fall in rooms on the island.  The added economic impact of the growth in the tourism sector will continue to filter out to many other support business groups the are in the tourism sector.  

LOE Social Media

As you know by now we are posting actively on our blog on the website, we would like you all to like or follow us on social media, were we can share with you many more unique aspects Luperon Ocean Estates offering about the Caribbean lifestyle. Sign in and follow us on the following Social media.  

Strong Tourism.

We have presented this information previously, but his is worth noting again. All of the economic indicators are pointing in the right direction today and for the foreseeable future. Tourism is bursting in the D.R. The country measures a number of data points to make announcements.  The number of landings in the countries major airports. The number of airlines and how many flights per week and where the arrivals are from. All of these data point are on the rise.  

North Coast Updates.

At LOE group we have a number of team members and local people that keep us updated on the activities in the area. What is being developed and promoted as well as infrastructure upgrades. The following are in various stages of exploration to actual completion, all of which are of great interest to us and hopefully to you. These represent good positive change and growth that will ultimately help our development and the expansion and awareness of the North Coast for tourism and trade beyond today.  

A.  Just to the east of LOE there is a beautiful town called Cambiaso. At this time there is an eastern european developer that is going through due diligence on a 50+ acre parcel of land. This land is on the beach, where they are proposing to build on this flat land several hundred rentable rooms through condo buildings and resort amenities. This represents another potential resort in the general area of luperon, which will positively effect other infrastructure elements in our local district. They are much further behind us in the development cycle but we are certainly hoping they execute on this plan. 

B.  Carnival Cruise lines, has filed for a new permit for a second deep water cruise port to the east of Playa Dorado. This project will typically take several years to develop and execute. The good news is that the planned expansion of the north coast destination for Carnival will mean more tourism for the general Puerto Plata area and potentially more local infrastructure and overnight stays at area resorts.  

C.  Alternative Energy field. As confirmed with local news reports an Asian investment firm, just funded a 100 million dollar wind farm on the north coast. This will generate over 50 Mega watts of electricity that they will sell to the power grids through EdoNorte the service provider. This means lower costs for electrical power use on the north coast and hopefully encourages more alternative energy funding and resources for the near future. This also fits very well with our zero-energy use platform we have established. Supporting our internal energy production to sustain our resort with out traditional power resources. This gives our development a much lower foot print and maintains a low cost impact on our owners and guests.

La Playa Vida

This is our third in a series of travel styled marketing posters that represent our various natural features at Luperon Ocean Estates. Weather you are a beach person or prefer the pool. You can not deny that our Incredible beach is a site to behold. Beach life in the Dominican Republic is the reason most people consider this as vacation destination. We are so fortunate to have this as our own little piece of paradise. Come join us, dip you toes in the clear blue waters and live La Playa vida…

LOE Cost of Building vs. Caribbean.

One of the key factors around many that prospective buyers consider is the cost for construction on an island destination. We have know this for many years that the Dominican Republic has a relatively low cost for construction compared to all other Caribbean island nations. This is in part effected due to the low cost of labor and the abundance of materials available on the island that are produced on the island. For many other islands, all of the their raw construction materials are shipped in to  the destination and often an extreme lack of skilled labor to construct. We have very recent market research that clarifies and proves this data is accurate. As of the market report the DR is the 5th lowest of all the (20) measured Caribbean islands in terms of cost of homes by meter square average. Effectively this fact is allowing our perspective customers to build a luxury villa for well below north american market prices for the same home. This value is also what is driving a high return on investment projection coupled with the high occupancy rates projected.

Projected Occupancy Rates

LOE group has actively collected market research from a variety of credible resources for the last year, with a direct focus on the economic indicators that will benefit our resort development and its owners within. As a part of this data collection through Q3 of 2017 and Q1 2018 the occupancy rates are at a 15 year high as measured by three independent resources and the tourism office of Dominican Republic. The office of tourism for the Dominican republic has recently reported that they are projecting an occupancy rate this year of 87.4%, which is outstanding. This projected rate is for the entire island, which acknowledges that most of the resorts, hotels and rentable rooms are on the north and south coasts as well as the two larges cities. This data also takes in consideration that over 5,500 new rooms came on-line in 2017. Today there is still a shortage of rooms based on the current and projected landings at airports and the rise in tourism for the last few years. By comparison to other island destinations in the Caribbean, The Dominican Republic is the number one destination since 2005 as reported by The Word Bank. All great news for the development and owners. Active demand for resort style rentable rooms, villas and apartments is exactly what indicators are needed for our planed resort to be successful for all of us.

Vista Del Mar

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The second in our series of travel inspired posters to promote the beauty and natural aspects of Luperon Ocean Estates, As we have repeatedly stated, our views and vistas of the Caribbean ocean and our Bahia de Ballena are very unique, even for an island with plenty of great views. Its highly unusual to find a landscaped resort property where all of its Villas or rooms face the ocean with a view. Stay tuned to the next in the series.

EASTER TRAVEL TO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

New article from Dominican Today reveals that tourism for the recent Easter week was at an all time high for the countries biggest airports and the island in general. Flights from all over the US, South America and Europe all full. Great news for all of us, that the world loves to travel to the DR for its amazing beaches, weather, people and food. 

Playa Dorado Flooded by Strong Storms.

Thursday March 15th, Puerto Plata was hit with a freakishly strong rain storm that dumped tons of rain in a very short amount of time.  A tropical downpour.  The results can be seen in these enclosed shots from helicopter footage – supplied by our fine Architect Eric Urbahan.  The Playa Dorado golf course and surounding hotel/condo community was flooded very quickly.  After a very wet winter the ground was still very saturated and created immediate pooling of water and flooding.  Only goes to show that the tropics are beautiful but weather is a constant changing element there.  Fortunately we are situated on a sloping hillside and we will not have these kinds of issues.  We understand that after a few days the water disapated and dried up over time.

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