Accor outlines 23-hotel Dominican Republic expansion spanning resorts, cities and airports

The nearly 6,000-room pipeline includes signed agreements and preliminary proposals, with new hotels planned from Miches and Punta Cana to Santo Domingo and Samaná.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Accor reports a Dominican Republic development pipeline of 23 hotel projects and nearly 6000 rooms.
• The portfolio also includes more than 1000 planned branded residences and could support up to 9000 direct jobs according to Accor.
• Proposed properties cover resort destinations including Miches and Cabo Engaño as well as airports and urban business centres.
• The pipeline combines signed development agreements with memoranda of understanding so individual projects remain at different stages.

Accor is preparing a substantial expansion into the Dominican Republic, with a development pipeline spanning 23 hotel projects, nearly 6,000 rooms and more than 1,000 branded residences across the Caribbean country. The plans cover beach resorts, urban hotels, airport accommodation and large-scale meeting venues, potentially extending international hotel brands well beyond the country’s established holiday hubs.

The French hospitality group outlined the portfolio during Dominican Republic Week in France, held from October 19 to 23, 2026. At a signing ceremony at its Paris headquarters, Accor entered into additional development agreements with local partners, in the presence of Dominican government representatives and investors. Importantly, the 23-project pipeline combines signed agreements with memoranda of understanding; the latter indicate proposed developments rather than completed hotel openings or unconditional commitments.

Accor estimates that the prospective portfolio could add capacity equivalent to approximately 6.5% of the country’s existing hotel rooms and support up to 9,000 direct jobs. Those figures describe the planned development programme, not jobs or accommodation capacity already delivered.

Resort districts and new destinations

Some of the largest proposals are concentrated on the eastern coastline. In Miches, a planned 207-hectare resort destination includes a 250-room Swissôtel wellness property, 1,000-room Grand Mercure and Novotel Resort hotels, an ibis offering, and a proposed Fairmont with 250 rooms and 100 branded residences. The Fairmont element is identified in the announcement as subject to a memorandum of understanding.

At Cabo Engaño, another proposed coastal development would combine a 1,000-room Mövenpick, a 150-room TRIBE hotel with 350 TRIBE LIVING residences, and a 150-room Swissôtel with 100 branded residences. Accor describes this cluster as being under an MOU, making its delivery subject to further development steps.

The group’s Handwritten Collection is also slated for two more individual properties. A proposed 350-room lagoon resort described as Handwritten Collection Miches would form part of a 36-hectare master plan with 400 branded residences in the Samaná Bay area, with opening targeted for 2030. A 95-room boutique hotel at Cabrera on the north coast is expected in 2028. Accor identifies both properties as franchise agreements.

Business travel, conventions and airports

The strategy reaches beyond traditional beach holidays. In Juan Dolio, the proposed Pullman Juan Dolio would pair 400 hotel rooms with a 4,000-seat convention centre, giving the coastal area a new venue for conferences, corporate meetings and major events near Las Américas International Airport.

In the Punta Cana area, a 102-room Novotel Punta Cana is scheduled to open in 2027, followed by the 137-room Novotel Punta Cana Downtown, which is intended to serve an emerging mixed-use business and residential district. A 90-room ibis Styles Punta Cana is targeted for 2030.

Across the country, Accor has outlined two exclusive development agreements covering a prospective network of 550 ibis rooms and 700 ibis budget rooms. Plans include hotels serving the airports and destinations such as Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Las Terrenas and Higüey. Specifically named schemes include a 100-room ibis Punta Cana Airport and 180-room ibis budget Santo Domingo Airport under franchise agreements.

For Santo Domingo, a Swissôtel scheme would feature around 75 hotel rooms and 180 branded residences. Another airport-area property, a 170-room ibis budget Santo Domingo Airport, is expected to debut in 2028. These announced airport hotel concepts appear separately in the source material with different room counts, and the group has not clarified whether they represent distinct projects or revised plans.

Investment partnerships and the tourism outlook

The Paris ceremony brought together Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, the Dominican Republic’s Minister of Industry, Commerce and SMEs; Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade Daniel Peña; Ambassador to France David Puig; and Accor’s development team. The hotel group said the programme is supported by Dominican and international investors, with the involvement of state-owned bank Banreservas. Property owners would retain their assets while using Accor brands, distribution and its ALL Accor booking and loyalty platform.

Camil Yazbeck, Accor’s global chief development officer for premium, midscale and economy brands, described the country as a market where infrastructure investment and travel demand are converging. Abel Castro, Accor’s chief development officer for the Americas, characterised the new developments as partnerships involving Dominican families, investors and institutions.

Accor cited 11.6 million visitors to the Dominican Republic in 2025 and said its mix of premium, midscale and economy brands is intended to serve both leisure and business travellers. The Dominican government’s investment-promotion agency, ProDominicana (Spanish-language government statement), separately described the plans as part of efforts to diversify the country’s hotel offering and attract investment.

With developments proposed across several regions and price segments, the scale of Accor’s eventual contribution will depend on individual projects moving from agreements and preliminary understandings into financing, construction and operation. Further information about the group is available at the Accor corporate website.