Photo courtesy of La Romana Ports
Global travel retailer Dufry has extended its duty free concession at La Romana Int. Airport & Seaport (AILR & CPLR) in the Dominican Republic for another 10 years.
The company has been opera-ting at La Romana for more than 14 years, where the combined airport and seaport location welcomes more than 700,000 passengers a year, catering to upscale private jets and golf players.
The new contract covers January 2022 through December 2032, and includes improvements to the air terminal as well as the build-out of a theme pool and complementary water amenities. The airport contract extension will allow Dufry to continue developing the 305 sq. meter retail space to best serve some 400,000 travelers coming mainly from the U.S., Canada and the Ukraine.
Within the expansion of the seaport concession, Airport Management Services Ltd., a subsidiary of Central Romana Corporation Ltd., plans to invest around US$4m to extend the cruise port with new attractions and transform it into an attractive leisure and cruise destination. Dufry will closely cooperate with the port authority to deliver a high-level design and shopping experience with 500 sqm of retail space and elevate La Romana to a major attraction for all Caribbean cruise lines. La Romana serves around 300,000 cruise visitors.
In addition to La Romana, Dufry also handles duty free operations in; AILA (Santo Domingo), Santiago, Puerto Plata Port & Airport as well as at Samana, Amber Cove, and Taino Bay cruise port in Puerto Plata Romana in the DR.
Announcing the contract extension, Juan-Antonio Nieto, Chief Operating Officer for Mexico and Caribbean, said: “We are very proud to be able to continue our long-standing and successful collaboration with La Romana International Airport & Seaport and we thank our partners for the renewed trust. Our continued alliance will not only bring both sides positive benefits but more importantly foster a strong partnership to satisfy international passengers in the region as we do world-wide.”
Luis Emilio Rodriguez Amiama, General Manager of La Romana International Airport & Seaport added: “For years, Dufry has been a key partner in the development of our La Romana airport and seaport in the Dominican Republic. Being owners and operators of a private airport, we have experienced many challenges and thanks to our travel retail partner’s expertise and continued professionalism, we have achieved solutions and improvements for the benefit of our clients, our employees and our business. Hence, we are proud to announce the renewal of our long-standing cooperation with Dufry for an additional 10 years. It is a privilege to maintain this partnership with a world-class travel retailer like Dufry.”
