It was at this point in time when a group of North American investors saw the tourist potential in this area and acquired a large amount of land in order to start building hotel infrastructures. This is how the first hotel in Punta Cana was built, which was inaugurated in 1971 in just two years.

The birth of Punta Cana as a global tourism powerhouse traces back to 1971, with the opening of the Puntacana Resort & Club. It was founded by Dominican businessman Frank Rainieri and American attorney Theodore Kheel. At the time, the area was a nearly unreachable wilderness of mangroves and white sand with no roads or electricity; the original resort consisted of just ten small beach cottages and a clubhouse. To make the destination viable, the founders eventually built the Punta Cana International Airport in 1984, which was the world's first privately owned international airport. By 2026, that original ten-cottage site has transformed into a massive luxury complex, and the surrounding region now hosts hundreds of mega-resorts. For 2026 history buffs, a visit to the original "Puntacana Resort" area offers a glimpse into the humble beginnings of what is now the most visited destination in the entire Caribbean.