DR1 Travel News - 13 September 2016

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
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www.
Is Carnival Corporation buying the Riu hotels in Maim?n?
PBS documentary focuses on Dominican-born whales
You can get bitcoins in the DR
Pullmantur to stop in Santo Domingo and La Romana




Is Carnival Corporation buying the Riu hotels in Maim?n?
Puerto Plata Digital news site is reporting that the Carnival Cruise Corporation, which operates the Amber Cove cruise ship port in Maim?n, Puerto Plata is about to finalize the purchase of the nearby Riu Mambo and Riu Merengue hotels that the Spanish hotel chain Riu has been operating for years in the same Maim?n Bay area.

Carnival is the largest cruise ship company in the world with headquarters in Miami, Florida, USA.

Maim?n is about 15 minutes from the city of Puerto Plata.

As reported in Puerto Plata Digital, the purchase is part of a plan to convert the Amber Cove center into a homeport for cruise ships. The tourists will stay in the company?s hotels before disembarking to other ports of call in the Caribbean and beyond.

Puerto Plata Digital adds information from the source Infotur Dominicano that says that the two hotels were on the market for US$95.4 million but the final purchase price has not been revealed. The purchase was reportedly made because Riu was investing in the Riu Plaza in New York, which required increased cash flows, so it decided to sell off its Caribbean properties.

http://www.puertoplatadigital.com/verNoticia.aspx?Id=22523


PBS documentary focuses on Dominican-born whales
The good news is that the humpback whales that make the Dominican Republic a leading whale-watching tourism excursion are no longer on the United States endangered species list. Conservation efforts seem to have paid off.

Now do not miss the documentary on whales to be screened by PBS as part of its new series Forces of Nature, which premieres at 8 pm ET on Wednesday, 14 September 2016.

The documentary tells the story of the whales that are conceived in the Silver Bank Marine Reserve, in the Caribbean waters off Puerto Plata.

"It's a warm, safe place to give birth, and the reason that's the case has to do with the color of the ocean and the wavelengths that have been absorbed," Bill Gardner, vice president of programming for PBS.

http://mashable.com/2016/09/11/pbs-forces-of-nature-humpback-whales/


You can get bitcoins in the DR
A bitcoin ATM machine is installed at WTS Travel for the purchase of bitcoins using Dominican pesos with commissions that range from 6-8% of the BitPay rate. The service is available from Monday to Friday from 9am to 9pm and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.

The first of its kind in the Dominican Republic, it is a two-way Lamassu bitcoin ATM that operates only for purchasing bitcoins. It accepts Dominican Peso (DOP) and sends bitcoins to a user?s wallet.

Bitcoin ATMs have been implemented across the globe. With nearly 800 machines all over the world, there is a growing demand for bitcoin ATMs.


Pullmantur to stop in Santo Domingo and La Romana
Spanish cruise line Pullmantur?s Zenith with capacity for 1,442 passengers is including Santo Domingo and La Romana as part of its eight-day Caribbean cruises between December 2016 and May 2017.

Other stops are Philipsburg, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. Rates range from EUR349 to EUR649 per person.

The cruise is also being marketed to Caribbean citizens who do not have visas.

http://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/5-secret-spots-in-the-dominican-republic.html


Easier to fly to Canada from Santo Domingo
Toronto is now easier to reach from Las Americas International Airport. Air Transat is adding a weekly flight from Toronto to Santo Domingo. The direct flight will be on Sundays, starting 18 December 2016.

The flight opens up the city of Santo Domingo and its Colonial City to visitors arriving at the central location. From there, independent tourists can travel to Puerto Plata and Samana in the north, or La Romana and Punta Cana to the east.

http://www.aviationtribune.com/airlines/north-america/air-transat-adds-santo-domingo-toronto-route/
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
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I e-mailed Jet Blue with hopes that they might resume the JFK/AZS flight. I got the standard answer. We don't maintain un-profitable routes. Probably the amount of taxes they have to pay in land at El-Catey has created this situation. I am sure they could at least have one flight a week and it would be full. Perhaps with the new airport management in the DR things may change, down the road or another airline will pick up this route.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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Steve, I don't think you're right about taxes being the culprit here.

I expect I used that flight as much as anybody and invariably (except for Christmas) it was cheaper than other destinations.

That's the crux - it was too cheap for JetBlue's P&L.... unprofitable.
The taxes were not a factor.
The load factor was the killer.....Dollars per mile.

What I reported here initially was an internal memo to staff which detailed what I just wrote above.