DR1 Travel News - 26 December 2017

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Costa Pacifica cruise includes four Dominican ports
Hideaway at Royalton Punta Cana for adults only
Tourist numbers up again in November
AAA bookings include DR in top ten air holiday destinations



Costa Pacifica cruise includes four Dominican ports
A nine-day Caribbean cruise on board the Costa Pacifica starts off on 30 December 2017, with a full day at the Amber Cove port in Maimon, Puerto Plata on the northcentral coast, continuing on day 2 to Samana on the northeastern coast and on day 3 to Catalina Island, La Romana on the southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic. After the stop in La Romana, the ship continues on to St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique and Guadaloupe to finish with at last stop at Casa de Campo port again in La Romana. Costa is advertising the cruise from US2,319 per person. The cruise ship is available for bookings in the Dominican Republic.

https://www.costacruise.com/usa/cru...A_CAT_BAS_SLU_BGI_FDF_PTP_LRM-PA09171230.html


Hideaway at Royalton Punta Cana for adults only
Hideaway at Royalton Punta Cana is one of the new beach resort alternatives for tourists looking into destination Punta Cana. The 168-suites adults only hotel is part of the Royalton Luxury Resorts chain.

Stefano Sturni says the hotel promises more personalized services to guests. The hotel has a contemporary Caribbean decoration style with high tech incorporated even in the bracelets that serve as keys.

The hotel has been open to guests since November 2017. It is being marketed to guests in Canada, United States and Europe.


Tourist numbers up again in November 2017
Air tourist arrivals are up 3.9% from January to November 2017, compared to the same period last year. So far this year there have been 5,560,787 non-resident visitors, 208,286 more than the same time last year.

Foreign tourists represent 87.2% of total non-resident travelers and have increased by 4.4% whereas non-resident Dominicans increased by 0.5%.

Of the foreign visitors, 56.3% arrived from North America (US, Canada and Mexico), 25.8% from Europe, 12.8% from South America, 4.7% from Central America and 0.4% from Asia and the rest of the world.

There was a decrease in the flow of passengers from Central America and the Caribbean with 8,157 less, as a consequence of the decrease in the arrival of tourists from Puerto Rico due to the impact of the hurricanes Irma and Maria.

There was also a 3.3% decrease in the numbers of tourists from South America due to the reductions in arrivals from Venezuela (-55,922) and Brazil (-34,307), due to the economic situation facing those countries, according to the Central Bank report.

The fall off from those countries was compensated for by increases in tourists from other South American countries including Argentina (39,907), Chile (15,787), Uruguay (6,063), Peru (3,336), Colombia (2,183) and Ecuador (1,452).

The greater share of the increase in tourists, nevertheless, came from Russia, with an additional 105,766 travelers for the period. There were also increases from England (13,922), Germany (9,682), Ukraine (8,728) Spain (7,402), Poland (7,165), Portugal (6,582), and Switzerland (4,901). European market share of travelers to the Dominican Republic increased from 23.3% for Jan-Nov 2016 to 25.8% for the same period in 2017.

Travel from North America was up 62,240 visitors or 2.3% compared to 2016. This includes an increase of 54,108 tourists from Canada and 8,732 from the United States. It is important to note that both hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017 affected flights to the country, affecting the overall statistics for the year.

Overall air travelers, including residents in the Dominican Republic, from Jan-Nov 2017, was 6,149,838, for a 4.3% increase or 251,816 more travelers compared to the same time in 2016.

For November alone, the statistics show that 51.4% of tourists to the Dominican Republic came from North America, 29.6% from Europe, 14% from South America, 4.6% from Central America and the Caribbean and 0.4% from the rest of the world. In November, the bigger flows of visitors came from the United States (136,621), Canada (62,394), Germany (23,567), Russia (22,679), Argentina (15,839), France (15,771), England (13,191) and Spain (12,861).

95% of the visitors reported coming for recreation and 93.7% said they would be staying at a hotel. 54.1% of travelers were in the 21-49 age range.

https://www.bancentral.gov.do/publi...nforme_turistico/informe_turistico2017-11.pdf


AAA bookings include DR in top ten air holiday destinations
The Dominican Republic is included in the top 10 travel destinations as per AAA.com bookings. These top 10 destinations are: Orlando, Florida and Anaheim, California (Disney park destinations), Cancun, Mexico; Honolulu, Hawaii; Kahului/Maui, Hawaii; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Miami and Fort Lauderdale in Florida and New York City.

The US auto club, AAA, forecasts Americans will be traveling in record numbers this 2017-2018 winter season. AAA forecasts that 107.3 million Americans will take to planes, trains, automobiles and other modes of transportation during the year-end holiday period from Saturday, 23 December 2017 through Monday, 1 January 2018. Of these, 6.4 million Americans are expected to fly to a holiday destination. This is a 4.1 percent increase and the fourth year of consecutive air travel volume increases.

According to AAA, this will be the highest year-end travel volume on record and a 3.1% increase in travel volume compared with last year. 2017 marks the ninth consecutive year of rising year-end holiday travel. Since 2005, total year-end holiday travel volume has grown by 21.6 million, an increase of more than 25%.

“Overall, our research shows that Americans are doing better economically than last year and want to go somewhere for the holidays,” AAA Travel Assistant Vice-President Vicky Evans said in a statement. “Whether they are going home or visiting a new destination, Americans have more money to finance their travel plans, thanks to a stronger economy and growing consumer confidence.”

http://newsroom.aaa.com/2017/12/hol...llion-americans-celebrate-holidays-away-home/