Punta Cana to Have the Caribbean’s Largest Theme Park

Meliá Hotels International, forming a joint venture with Falcon's Beyond Global, today announced an extensive plan to build and develop in Punta Cana a state-of-the-art theme park, Katmandu Park™, to open in the fall of 2022, along with other projects that will consolidate the destination's leadership in entertainment, dining, and shopping tourism. 

Falcon's Beyond™ master-plan for this new Entertainment Destination is being developed in two phases. Phase 1 includes the development of Katmandu Park Punta Cana, which will bring the magical characters and history of Katmandu, so beloved by millions of children in Europe, to an entirely new audience in the Caribbean. 

The "Katmandu experience," which will include everything from legendary attractions to the latest entertainment innovations, such as the world's first Suspended Theater®, will also offer exciting adventures that will immerse guests and visitors in the Katmandu universe, completely transforming the Dominican Republic's entertainment offerings.

Phase 2 will allow for an expansion of the project by adding a world-class entertainment, dining and shopping offering through the incorporation of major international brands in those sectors, and will be led by Falcon's Beyond.

"The scale and potential of the entertainment brands that we will be announcing early next year as part of Phase 2 of the project are truly impressive," said Cecil D. Magpuri, CEO of Falcon's Beyond Global, in his remarks.

"The important Joint Venture between Meliá Hotels International and Falcon's Beyond in Punta Cana, an exceptional destination that we have been working on for more than 30 years and have in our hearts, will materialize in the first major Theme Park and Entertainment Destination in the Caribbean," said Meliá's Executive Vice President, Gabriel Escarrer.

Furthering the commitment that Meliá Hotels International has maintained with Punta Cana for more than three decades, the leading Spanish hotelier has incorporated into the master plan a major renovation of two of the company's Paradisus hotels in the destination, including the total reconstruction of the first of its resorts of this brand in the area, the Paradisus Punta Cana, and a major refurbishment of the Paradisus Palma Real. The Company expects to substantially complete the renovation of the existing hotels by the end of 2023. 

The new Paradisus Punta Cana, whose avant-garde architectural concept and project was explained to those present at the event by the prestigious architect Álvaro Sans, will apply criteria of sustainable and intelligent architecture, and will use native landscaping to minimize the negative impact that its construction could have on its spectacular and sensitive natural surroundings. 

The resort will also prioritize, from the very conception of the project, energy efficiency systems and for the management of water resources and waste, as well as the objectives of achieving neutrality in Co2 emissions, and the Circular Economy.

"Punta Cana is the place where our Paradisus brand was born, with the opening in 1995 of Paradisus Punta Cana," recalled André P. Gerondeau, COO of Meliá Hotels International. "With the project we are launching today, a new resort will emerge in its place, bringing, out of loyalty to its principles, a new degree of luxury to a brand that is beloved by some of the world's most discerning travelers, and which provides exceptional experiences based on luxury all-inclusive service, extraordinary locations and a philosophy of sustainable and responsible management."

Meliá Hotels International has 82 Earth Check certified hotels and is positioned among the top two most sustainable hotel companies in the world as of 2019 in Standard&Poors Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment, and aims to continue promoting social, cultural and economic development in local communities, supporting training and employment, inclusion and accessibility.

"Together with Meliá and the Dominican Republic, we are truly creating a destination unlike anywhere else in the world - a new dimension for Punta Cana," said Scott Demereau, CEO of Falcon's Beyond Global. "This entertainment destination is designed to complement the resort experiences and beautiful beaches in this area, offering a new reason for tourists to visit the Dominican Republic and enjoy all that the country has to offer.