The Slow Season has Arrived

[dv8]

the data is here:
https://www.bancentral.gov.do/a/d/2537-sector-turismo
choose option "por nacionalidad" and the time period.

for 2018 arrivals:
el catey airport
Canadá 54,680
Estados Unidos 171

puerto plata:
Canadá 173,105
Estados Unidos 129,012

punta cana:
Canadá 634,382
Estados Unidos 1,554,183

santo domingo:
Canadá 9,602
Estados Unidos 363,220

i only compared these two nations since someone mentioned USA tourist numbers being very high.

 

[cavok]

Looks like my estimates were on the low side!

 

[dv8]

banco central publishes lots of info on arrivals/departures. more on the subject of slow season, also data from last year, a comparison of POP and PUJ:

PUERTO PLATA total 438,935
jan 58,297
feb 54,591
mar 59,097
apr 43,642
may 23,197
jun 24,934
jul 32,021
aug 27,267
sep 19,304
oct 21,733
nov 27,879
dec 46,973

PUNTA CANA total 3,944,536
jan 348,895
feb 337,754
mar 406,170
apr 347,564
may 316,362
jun 358,002
jul 405,619
aug 322,150
sept 212,421
oct 244,086
nov 288,010
dec 357,503

 

[chico bill]

Looks like my estimates were on the low side!

Not all arrivals are tourists.
Many numbers are Dominicans going to and from DR.
And like me two trips out and back last year probably the same this year.
It would be interesting if numbers could be broken down by cédula / no cédula.

 

[chico bill]

We're talking North Coast here. Punta Cana is high season almost all year around. It just goes from busy to overbooked.

Has anyone stay in PC lately?
I'm curious about the seaweed.
I swore I'd wait till it was gone before going back.

 

[dv8]

Not all arrivals are tourists.
Many numbers are Dominicans going to and from DR.
And like me two trips out and back last year probably the same this year.
It would be interesting if numbers could be broken down by cédula / no cédula.

click on the link provided. sorting by nationality provides also the number of dominicans: residents and non residents.

 

[william webster]

the data is here:
https://www.bancentral.gov.do/a/d/2537-sector-turismo
choose option "por nacionalidad" and the time period.

for 2018 arrivals:
el catey airport
Canadá 54,680
Estados Unidos 171

puerto plata:
Canadá 173,105
Estados Unidos 129,012

punta cana:
Canadá 634,382
Estados Unidos 1,554,183

santo domingo:
Canadá 9,602
Estados Unidos 363,220

i only compared these two nations since someone mentioned USA tourist numbers being very high.

Remembering El Catey (AZS) recieves no US flights - except private aircraft.

and if you factor in that USA has 10x the Cdn population you get a feel for the Cdn impact
and their desire to avoid winter

 

[william webster]

banco central publishes lots of info on arrivals/departures. more on the subject of slow season, also data from last year, a comparison of POP and PUJ:

PUERTO PLATA total 438,935
jan 58,297
feb 54,591
mar 59,097
apr 43,642
may 23,197
jun 24,934
jul 32,021
aug 27,267
sep 19,304
oct 21,733
nov 27,879
dec 46,973

PUNTA CANA total 3,944,536
jan 348,895
feb 337,754
mar 406,170
apr 347,564
may 316,362
jun 358,002
jul 405,619
aug 322,150
sept 212,421
oct 244,086
nov 288,010
dec 357,503

PC really has a short low season.... very short
and those arrivals will be a higher % of tourists than the other airports - IMO
Fewer residents or visiting Dominicans

 

[SKY]

Low season in Punta Cana is September and October.

 

[ctrob]

PC really has a short low season.... very short

Why is that?

 

[SKY]

Why is that?

PUNTA CANA total 3,944,536
jan 348,895
feb 337,754
mar 406,170
apr 347,564
may 316,362
jun 358,002
jul 405,619
aug 322,150
sept 212,421
oct 244,086
nov 288,010
dec 357,503

If you look at these numbers you will see what I said about Sept. and Oct. November is a bit low also until Thanksgiving. Punta Cana does not rely on North Americans to fill up hotels. In the summer in Europe is when people take their vacation. And vacations in Europe are a lot longer than in the US. There are a lot of deals for PC from Europe with airfare included in the summer.

Also in the summer a lot of South Americans come to get out of the cold weather in the south. So in effect the summer which you would think is low season is anything but that.

 

[william webster]

The country features PC in its advertising.... globally.

POP gets no such benefit.

La Romana and PC are full of SoAmericans all summer - as SKY says- very popular winter destination for them

I suppose we could go so far as to say-
POP is a NoAmerican destination and PC is more global in reach

 

[cruzan1]

I had a "realtor" tell me the other day that short/long term rental rates are going to increase dramatically due to the high vacancy rates they are expecting this summer and fall. - yes, you are reading that correctly.

 

[windeguy]

puerto plata:
Canadá 173,105
Estados Unidos 129,012

Looks like my estimates were on the low side!

Yes, Canadians were 57% of those using POP of the total of Canadians and Americans. I am surprised it is only 57%.

 

[windeguy]

I had a "realtor" tell me the other day that short/long term rental rates are going to increase dramatically due to the high vacancy rates they are expecting this summer and fall. - yes, you are reading that correctly.

You are correct that this is the logic frequently used here.

However, Airbnb has had the opposite effect.

 

[chico bill]

You are correct that this is the logic frequently used here.

However, Airbnb has had the opposite effect.

How many places are sitting empty ? I've always thought it better to have someone in the place paying enough to cover costs than leave it empty for the roaches and rats (rats ride motos and like smart TVs and furniture).

I wonder why there are even high and low season rates - if the demand is not there due to over saturation, then make a fair price to hopefully have a long term renter stay. No towels & sheets to wash, no cleaning person to pay and no check in & out every other week.
As a landlord you are free to travel about yourself.

Say your 'low season' rate is $500/mo and the high season is $1,200. But it is only 75% rented for those 4 months of high season and your cleaning costs you $200/month so you pocket $2,800 and then there is the luz - another $80/mo so you are down to just under $2,500.
And who knows how you can reel in a tenant for the low season and for how many weeks, let's say the landlord is lucky gets it rented 50% for 8 months at $500 pocketing another $2000, then deducting for cleaning an electrical the landlord pockets nada for the low season at 50% occupancy

But if you rent for $500 and tenant pays for lights and no cleaning and he's there the whole high season you have $2,000 and that tenant decides he'll stay the whole year. Landlord Pockets $6,000. Ca Ching - and with little management. Does the turtle win the race ?

I'm not a landlord here so I am really surmising, but I was once in the US and having to deal with tenants coming and going was my worst nightmare. I liked just cashing checks more.

 

[RonS]

It's interesting that you guys haven't mentioned weather in this discussion and the affect that the hurricanes have on tourism on both coasts. I live in the northeast US and I restrict my travel to the DR and the Caribbean generally to avoid the hurricane season, and I don't think I'm alone in that.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

While some seasoned travelers may consider hurricane season when choosing a destination, most will only give it a passing thought if any at all.

The cheaper off-season packaged vacations are just too enticing and the odds of a week or two in the DR being disrupted by a storm is not likely. I think the general perception is that Florida and Mexico get hit with a frequency much higher than the DR. Every now and then there are tourists who don't check the weather before they leave home and fly into the path of a potential storm and then yell to be rescued from themselves. Ie. if the flight is a go, so are the tourists.

 

[william webster]

The Sept/Oct low season coincides with the hurricane season

Visitors may be smarter than some think....

 

[bigbird]

..........The cheaper off-season packaged vacations are just too enticing and the odds of a week or two in the DR being disrupted by a storm is not likely.............

I love September/October. The cheapest airfares during the entire year. I just check the long range hurricane forecast and off to the airport I go.