Las Terrenas, a town in the Samanà province of the Dominican Republic, has experienced
phenomenal growth of its tourist industry. Electricity only arrived in Las Terrenas in the
late 1990s, yet today, more than 70 hotels and other establishments offer thousands of
rooms in tourist accommodations. In little more than two decades, the population of Las
Terrenas has mushroomed from a few hundred to nearly 20,000. While the forces of
commercial development integrate Las Terrenas into the global economy, its municipal
infrastructure simply has not kept pace. The national government finances
the construction of roads and other projects to promote the region’s tourism industry, but
critical public health and environmental issues receive inadequate attention. This
research highlights the challenges tourism and globalization present to the economic
development of an impoverished community.