Market conditions tightened simultaneously across our core buyer regions, extending sales cycles and delaying financing across the sector.
At the same time, the year materially strengthened the company’s structure, governance, and execution readiness. What began as macroeconomic pressure accelerated decisions that positioned Samana Group for durability rather than short-term momentum.
Market Context
Conditions shifted across all major source markets at the same time.
In the United States, higher domestic yields reduced appetite for offshore real estate. In Europe, particularly Spain, weaker growth and elevated interest rates slowed outbound investment. Locally, higher borrowing costs and more conservative bank lending reduced domestic absorption.
These dynamics affected both early-stage and established operators.
In this environment, resilience depended more on structure than speed.
A Year of Structural Reorientation
2025 became a year of deliberate reorientation for Samana Group.
The company transitioned from a founder-led startup into a structured international platform built around risk separation, capital discipline, and long-term financial viability.
Separate, locally governed Fideicomisos (REITs) were established across our core business lines:
land banking,
development,
utilities,
rental management.
This created clearer operational and fiduciary boundaries between different areas of the business.
The change represented a broader shift from entrepreneurial execution toward institutional process.
Operating costs were reduced, legacy structures were simplified, and execution authority was consolidated locally in the Dominican Republic.
Company operations are supported by established local and international partners, including Guzmán Ariza for legal services, Estating for investment, PCG SA and Structum for construction, and Ernst & Young for governance and tax.
As part of this reorientation, the company narrowed its focus to two priorities designed to compound over time: expanding the land bank and stabilizing execution on projects already underway.
Activities that did not create a durable advantage or measurable value were exited or paused.
What Went Right in 2025
Land Banking
Our strategic emphasis on land acquisition proved correct.
High-quality land in the Samaná region is becoming increasingly scarce, and disciplined land banking remains the foundation of our long-term value-creation strategy.
In 2025, Samana Group became the first project in the Caribbean to complete full SIX SIS due diligence, enabling the listing of its bonds.
It also became the first to pass independent custodian due diligence, allowing U.S. citizens to invest in land-backed instruments through qualified retirement accounts, including 401(k) structures.
This materially expanded the addressable investor base and received a positive market response.
As of December 31, 2025, the initial $7.5 million raised marked the first year of capital formation under this framework, validating both the structure and demand for institutionally governed land exposure.
Within this strategy, sustainability is treated as an operating constraint embedded directly into the structure rather than as a communications concept.
Commercial Validation
Despite a constrained macroeconomic environment, our core projects continued to demonstrate market validation.
Nomad City delivered strong pre-revenue sales performance, reaching a Total Sales Value of $19.7 million from the pre-sale of 84 units as of December 31, 2025.
Demand, pricing discipline, and unit economics were therefore tested under materially more difficult conditions than in previous years.
For us, this confirmed product-market fit despite the broader slowdown.
What Macro Signals to Follow in the Dominican Republic in 2026
In 2026, the most important signals will not necessarily come from tourism headlines.
The deeper indicators are the structural forces that determine whether growth compounds over time or simply circulates through the economy.
1. Dollar vs. Peso: The Silent Kingmaker
Headline GDP figures matter, but currency dynamics have a direct impact on everyday economic reality.
The relationship between the U.S. dollar and the Dominican peso affects:
construction costs,
imported materials,
debt servicing,
rental yields,
business margins,
household purchasing power.
Direction matters less than volatility.
Currency stability makes planning, pricing, and long-term investment easier. Instability transfers risk to businesses and residents — and ultimately affects investor confidence.
2. Foreign Direct Investment: Capital That Commits
Tourism statistics describe activity. Foreign Direct Investment reflects a deeper level of commitment.
FDI is an indicator of confidence in the legal system, regulatory continuity, and the broader execution environment.
Just as important as the headline level of investment is where that capital goes.
Investment that creates productive capacity across multiple sectors strengthens resilience. Capital concentrated in a single asset class increases cyclicality.
Economies dependent on one dominant sector do not compound consistently. They oscillate.
3. Tourism Leakage: The Question Beneath the Numbers
Tourism growth can look impressive on paper, but visitor numbers alone say little about the real economic effect.
The critical question is how much of the money generated by tourism actually stays in the country.
When hotels, airlines, booking platforms, supply chains, and management services are controlled from abroad, a significant share of tourism revenue can leave the local economy quickly.
In that scenario, tourism functions less like a long-term growth engine and more like a transit system: money arrives, circulates briefly, and exits.
High tourism combined with high leakage creates dependency rather than resilience.
For tourism to contribute to lasting prosperity, value needs to compound locally through ownership, supply chains, employment, and reinvestment.
Outlook for 2026 for Samana Group
Entering 2026, Samana Group is structurally simpler, operationally unblocked, and focused on execution.
The lessons of 2025 translated into tighter capital discipline, clearer governance, and a business model anchored in assets already under control rather than assumptions about the future.
Our priorities for 2026 are explicit and measurable:
achieve profitability at the Holding level,
complete construction of Nomad City Phase 1.
With governance risks addressed, financing pathways reopened, and the platform stabilized, we approach the year with confidence based on execution readiness rather than unsupported optimism.
2026 is not a year of experimentation. It is a year of delivery.
Marek Zmysłowski
CEO of Samana Group