Rainieri urges young Dominicans to work for a better country

Frank Rainieri, founder of Grupo Puntacana, opened the first Punta Cana Forum with a blunt message to the next generation: work for a better country. The remarks, reported by Arecoa, came at a forum born in the destination he helped build from almost nothing.

This is not a new line for him. Rainieri has spent decades saying Dominican tourism was built on effort, vision and local roots, and that the next chapter needs a handover. In a sector that already moves millions of visitors a year and supports thousands of jobs across Punta Cana, Bávaro, Samaná and Puerto Plata, that call carries economic weight: without young talent trained in hospitality, operations, revenue and sustainability, growth stalls on its own.

The read is clear. The country has a mature tourism industry, with consolidated foreign investment and a MITUR that touts record arrivals, but the real test is whether that prosperity translates into genuine opportunities for those just starting out. Rainieri points exactly there, and the first Punta Cana Forum is born with that purpose: turning the destination's success into a platform for the people coming next.