Visitors may be interested in learning that Punta Cana started out as our company's name, a brand created in the early 1970s by Frank Rainieri, for a piece of land originally called Punta Borrachón (Drunkard's Point). Today, Punta Cana has the most recognized Dominican brand in the world. As a result, our brand name is now PUNTACANA.

Back in 1969 a group of American investors, headed by Ted Kheel, bought 30 square miles of undeveloped land stretching along five miles of the east coast of the Dominican Republic in the province of La Altagracia. The land was mostly impenetrable jungle with no access roads and only a handful of small fishing villages. However, the beaches were among the most beautiful on the island. A few years later, Dominican entrepreneur Frank Rainieri joined them with his vision to create a resort community that respects the natural habitat while providing visitors with a world-class vacation experience. Mr. Rainieri wisely decided to rename it Punta Cana, after the fan-shaped Cana palm leaf that flourishes in the area (Sabal causiarum).

The area, nonetheless, was still pretty isolated. A rough road was built, thus connecting Punta Cana to the rest of the country's road network. We saw the inconvenience of having to travel four hours to reach the nearest airport, located in Santo Domingo which led to the construction of the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ). After an eight year battle with three different governments, authorization was obtained for the construction of the first private international airport in the country, allowing Grupo Puntacana's primitive airstrip to be developed to accommodate full-sized commercial aircraft.

In a joint venture with Club Med, construction began, and in 1984, Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) was inaugurated. It was the world's first and most successful, privately built, owned and managed, international airport. And it still is. In its 1st year the airport received 2,976 passengers, currently we receive more than 10 million passengers. The Punta Cana region continues to grow as well. The new Coral highway linking Punta Cana to La Romana in just 35 minutes was recently completed, and Santo Domingo can now be reached in less than two hours. The future for Punta Cana looks bright, as it promises to remain one of the top vacation destinations in the