we are in shoulder season - generally the time when people do not or CANNOT travel - kind of like you.
So the tour operators put everything on sale because most agreements they guarantee a number of rooms per week and a number of plane seats per trip. Better to fill at lower rates then have empty!!!! They make up for it all with higher rates during busy times.
The only reason I cannot travel now is that I am taking redundancy at the end of June, no other reason. If I wasn't I would have grabbed this deal with both hands. I still think this is astonishingly cheap. The main UK tour operators all have heavy room allocations in the hotels all year round, I would imagine they have cut a lot of these back. For some reason the Puerto Plata Village hotel is consistently bargain priced and yet the reviews remain pretty good, unlike some of the other cheaper hotels in Playa Dorada. :ermm:
I don't know if you are a Brit, but we tend to have our hols all year round. High Season for us is July and August when the children are off school. Many people avoid this time for that very reason! A number of people in my office have already taken a break in the last couple of months. Those that go long haul are tending to book for the USA, Cuba or Egypt. Other short haul destinations are beginning to be popular again despite the problems with the Euro.
A few years ago the DR was in the top 5 holiday destinations for Brits, now it doesn't even figure in the top 10. When I returned to the UK five years ago it was very common to hear that people had taken a holiday in the DR and decided not to return for differing reasons.
Even though I love the country and the people, as an ex holiday rep I can also see it through other peoples eyes as well and can understand why they may feel this way.
Anyway, musings over.
Rio