What is holding back tourism in Puerto Plata?

umeafdb

New member
Mar 9, 2010
81
2
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What are the propects for development/tourism here in the North Coast? On Sat Mrch 23 1:30 pm the Meeting Place is hosting an open forum with special guests Maximo Yglesias Chairman of the CLUSTER and director of the Sosua-Puerto Plata Airport, Roberto Casoni, President of the Playa Dorado Hotel Association, and Ambra Attas Executive Director of Asaonorte, the Hotel and Restaurant Association, as well as others knowledgeable about the Puerto Plata/North Coast tourism world. As frequent visitors and/or residents here, we have a vested interest in the region?s renewal. Some questions need to be posed.
What can be done to make this region more attractive to visitors?
Can the cruise ships ?save? tourism?
Can condos replace hotels? Should they?
How can we make sure that the needs of the city and the tourist industry complement each other?
What should the tourism vice-ministry be doing to get appropriate information about the region to visitors?
How can the ex-pat community help?
This should be an enlightening discussion in which we will have the chance to get some answers and ask the questions that need to be answered.
The Meeting Place is located at Calle Juan Bosch #60, Puerto Plata, for more information check website Meeting Place Puerto Plata
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,368
3,150
113
Everyone knows that the problem with Puerto Plata is not the destination, its not the beaches, its not the weather... it boils down to the lodgings. Too many outdated resorts, end of story.

The hotels that are doing better are all relatively new and up to the standards people expect of all inclusive Caribbean resorts (minus Casa Colonial which is also doing well, but its not all inclusive nor cheap.)

A large number of the resorts up and down the Puerto Plata coast are owned by Dominican investors that are having problems finding adequate and relatively cheap financing in order to tear down the current hotels and built in their place something that can actually compete with the hotels in Punta Cana and elsewhere.

Look what happens in Punta Cana when a resort becomes outdated and begins to affect the bottom line.

Riu? They teared down one of their older hotels in Bavaro and built a luxurious masterpiece. Barcelo did something similar by upgrading three older hotels on Bavaro beach and unifying them with a new lobby building. They named it Barcelo Deluxe and its now one of the most popular hotels in the area again. These foreign chains can do that because they have access to cheap international financing and/or they simply have very deep pockets.

This is what needs to happen in Puerto Plata (especially in Playa Dorada) if the area is truly going to rise again. In the absence of this, the area will have to keep catering to sex tourists, which, lets face it, these are not quite the type of people that produce the big bucks as far as tourism is concerned. If that was the case, Sosua and Boca Chica would had been among the top hard currency producers in the country when in reality Punta Cana put all of them to shame. And Punta Cana is not really a sex destination and with this my point is made.
 

fuchs4d

Active member
Mar 7, 2004
347
189
43
> As frequent visitors and/or residents here, we have a vested interest in the region’s renewal.

To renew maybe tear down most buildings at coast side.
Clean.
Cabarete once was beautiful, today beach side is ugly.
For each new tourist or resident, some new poor move to the area to look for better life, so the "Bateyes" get more and more people. Social time bomb.

Had just a couple of days sitting with family and kids at Boca Chica beach.
What a mess, every 30 seconds someone comes trying to sell crap. At evening time, kids start begging, asking for food etc.
Can not imagine US / European tourist would come again.
Nothing is going to change that, talked about this with a dominican bar owner, beach association has no interest in stoping the flood of sellers. Sitting there is like sitting on the "Duarte" in Sto. Dgo.

Read local news, dominicans killing themselfs for nothing today, security is worse, even dominicans are afraid.

D.R. has no future, best that can happen is not getting worse.
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
I don't think you can expect much of a change in the short term. They area is one of the older tourist destinations. Punta Cana/Bavaro is the area of all inclusive choices with of modern accomodations and more amenities available. I think this area is more family oriented also. The cruise ships can bring some $$$ into the area but again this won't have a huge impact. Puerta Plata and Playa Dorado does have some nice golf courses and gambling which many people are looking for. I would try to emphasize these along with very competitive A-I pricing.

LTSteve
 

bdablack

Member
Jun 30, 2011
133
1
18
The beaches are not the problem, have you seen the beachesthere lately? They need to invest in aBeach tractor and have that thing rake the public beaches every morning. The beaches are just a reflection of thepeople. They are loud and dirty. Thereshould be a litter ordinance and police should enforce it. The police should haul the bums who litterthe place, off to jail and bring them back in the morning in pink jumpsuits tohelp clean the beaches.
<o:p> </o:p>
Then there is the noise. Dumb people in cars riding up and downthe Malecon making noise that people in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:city>can hear. The traffic on the Malecon shouldnot be allowed to travel more than 15mph or 24kph. Volume should be reduced to less than 5 feetfrom the source. Any car with blaringmusic should be confiscated and sold to pay for more beach tractor, maintenanceof the Malecon and police presence. Noise and filth might be a cultural thing, but when you need foreignexchange, you must do what the foreigners like. There should be stepped up police controls. I’m not too worried about police bribery,hell I’d go there every visit and give a $100 donation to the police station ifI knew that would help bring their presence up to par.
<o:p> </o:p>
The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dominican Republic</st1:place></st1:country-region> can be a heavenly place tovacation, but Dominicans are shooting themselves in the foot and seem to be toostupid to know it.
 

bdablack

Member
Jun 30, 2011
133
1
18
The beaches are not theproblem, have you seen the beaches there lately? They need to invest in a Beach tractor andhave that thing rake the public beaches every morning. The beaches are just a reflection of thepeople. They are loud and dirty. Thereshould be a litter ordinance and police should enforce it. The police should haul the bums who litterthe place, off to jail and bring them back in the morning in pink jumpsuits tohelp clean the beaches.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Then there is the noise. Dumbpeople in cars riding up and down the Malecon making noise that people in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:city> can hear. The traffic on the Malecon should not beallowed to travel more than 15mph or 24kph. Volume should be reduced to less than 5 feet from the source. Any car with blaring music should beconfiscated and sold to pay for more beach tractor, maintenance of the Maleconand police presence. Noise and filthmight be a cultural thing, but when you need foreign exchange, you must do whatthe foreigners like. There should be steppedup police controls. I’m not too worriedabout police bribery, hell I’d go there every visit and give a $100 donation tothe police station if I knew that would help bring their presence up to par.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dominican Republic</st1:place></st1:country-region>can be a heavenly place to vacation, but Dominicans are shooting themselves inthe foot and seem to be too stupid to know it.<o:p></o:p>
 

Abuela

Bronze
May 13, 2006
1,952
288
83
A lesson can be learned from Cancun,Mexico. The landing fees are subsidized to keep the fares low. I've read Puerto Plata has the highest landing fees in the Caribbean. This could be a game changer for POP and sustainable tourism.
 

Seamonkey

Bronze
Oct 6, 2009
1,896
755
113
Anybody who thinks the cruise ships will save tourism has their head stuck in the sand.

What do most people complain about on the North Coast???? expensive flights, that's what. Lower the tax and more people will come plain and simple.

Yes, Playa Dorada needs a huge facelift. Forget about competing with Punta Cana....it's not going to happen.

As for Sosua, the kids on the street begging has gotten out of hand again and nothing is being done. Politure do nothing about it.

The Government and resort owners need to take ownership of the mess they have created and not look at the expats for solutions. It's meeting after meeting and nothing gets done. Last meeting I attended (1/2 late to start) I was digusted by the panel (politure, nacional and tourismo) answering and talking on their cell phones during the meeting...while the audience asked questions. No respect for other peoples time.
 

kristen

Member
Jan 17, 2009
36
2
8
In my opinion and not that I know everything or anything,lol BUT I do travel 3-4 times a year to Puerto Plata and use the AI's. I love the area and would choose it over Punta Cana anytime. Yes some of the resorts are dated,but as long as they are clean, good food and friendly staff I am good. Airfare is much higher to the North Coast and where we live in Canada Punta Cana appears to be promoted much more,(is there a reason) so yes I agree airfare is part of the problem. I believe the North Coast has much more to offer for tourism then the other side. For some reason it seems that the government builds up an area and then forgets about it.
 

Seamonkey

Bronze
Oct 6, 2009
1,896
755
113
Kristen I agree with 100%. Punta Cana has never peaked my interest, I'm not into those types of resort (meaning out in the middle of nowhere) I believe that the North Coast needs to be marketed totally different and draw the people who like adventure and want to wander off the resorts.
 

Viajero

Bronze
Dec 16, 2011
1,593
1
36
Flights into POP are not competitive with other destinations.
I agree. The prices have increased significantly over the last few years, especially with the high taxes/fees. POP used to be an affordable flight so you had spending money left over for AIs or whatever.

Now, the prices seem to be high, especially if you don't fly from Florida or NY. When the prices reach a certain level, you naturally start looking at alternative destinations, especially if we're talking families.
 

nsgirl

New member
Nov 4, 2008
87
4
0
I love the North Coast and Puerto Plata especially....However Kristen is right, here in Canada Punta Cana is marketed pretty much exclusively. When I say I want to go to Puerto Plata the travel agents are shocked. And the flights are very expensive....we usually book an AI simply because it's generally the cheapest way but we are rarely on the resort, most people ( including travel agents) are scared to wander around on their own....they are told repeatedly how dangerous it is. The first thing the reps tell you in the welcome meeting is to stay close to the resort and only book excursions from the hotel reps as it's unsafe to do so with others. At my first stay in the country I was actually told not to even go down to the " market area" at the end of the beach unless I was with a group. I had already been there on my own and made out fine but most people take these tips to heart. I see many people asking if it's safe to walk around within Playa Dorada....
 

bigwhiskey

New member
Aug 29, 2010
383
4
0
Let's see airfare is high taxi's try to rip you off resort's old outdated 99.999% of advertisement is for punta cana.
But I will still go to Puerto Plata.
 

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
0
Let us be realistic..

- the hotels need to be updated... true.
- the taxes on POP airport are killing tourism... true

but maybe communities like this one should also stop depicting the NC like an area where, when leaving your hotel, you will be robbed, raped, accosted by whores, and murdered.

Instead of pointing out the good stuff, like the variety of good restaurants, the excursions, etc...

But hey, who am I.

BelgianK
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
0
The beaches are not the problem, have you seen the beachesthere lately? They need to invest in aBeach tractor and have that thing rake the public beaches every morning. The beaches are just a reflection of thepeople. They are loud and dirty. Thereshould be a litter ordinance and police should enforce it. The police should haul the bums who litterthe place, off to jail and bring them back in the morning in pink jumpsuits tohelp clean the beaches.
<o:p> </o:p>
Then there is the noise. Dumb people in cars riding up and downthe Malecon making noise that people in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:city>can hear. The traffic on the Malecon shouldnot be allowed to travel more than 15mph or 24kph. Volume should be reduced to less than 5 feetfrom the source. Any car with blaringmusic should be confiscated and sold to pay for more beach tractor, maintenanceof the Malecon and police presence. Noise and filth might be a cultural thing, but when you need foreignexchange, you must do what the foreigners like. There should be stepped up police controls. I?m not too worried about police bribery,hell I?d go there every visit and give a $100 donation to the police station ifI knew that would help bring their presence up to par.
<o:p> </o:p>
The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dominican Republic</st1:place></st1:country-region> can be a heavenly place tovacation, but Dominicans are shooting themselves in the foot and seem to be toostupid to know it.

absolutely insightful posting. in every town with a beachside boulevard( malecon), said boulevard is a major part of the tourism infrastructure. in POP, it is a liability. first of all, which genius decided that it would be a good place to build a barrio? look at the homes and apartments of that area? the place is an eyesore. then, it is an impromptu racetrack for all manner of vehicular idiots, mostly insane motorcyclists with no mufflers, blasting tourists with unbearable noise. then...the filth. garbage everywhere. stick a fork in POP, and forget it. it is done like dinner.
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
0
Let us be realistic..

- the hotels need to be updated... true.
- the taxes on POP airport are killing tourism... true

but maybe communities like this one should also stop depicting the NC like an area where, when leaving your hotel, you will be robbed, raped, accosted by whores, and murdered.

Instead of pointing out the good stuff, like the variety of good restaurants, the excursions, etc...

But hey, who am I.

BelgianK

good restaurants? in POP?
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
0
Let's see airfare is high taxi's try to rip you off resort's old outdated 99.999% of advertisement is for punta cana.
But I will still go to Puerto Plata.

outdated is not the problem. it is a matter of poor upkeep. POP is relatively new, as far as the caribbean is concerned. there are old hotels in places like The Bahamas and Jamaica that are old structures, but still first class destinations. the DR business model for POP was to build it cheap, milk it for all it's worth, make as much money, as fast as possible, and hope for the best. that was then. this is now. the chickens came home to roost.
 
May 29, 2006
10,265
200
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PC has hotels that are often 20 years newer than in POP.

POP AI's are not being updated, and it only takes a few bad exp to make the whole area seem run down.

PC has far more marketing for a destination, not just by hotels, but as a destination.

PC has package deals often including air flights that make it cheaper than POP.

PC hotels all have websites and many are franchises to guarantee similar quality and standards.

The city of POP is nasty, noisy and polluted and has very little to offer other than the cable car, which is often not running.

The higher standards of the hotels in PC brings any unaffiliated restaurants up in quality.


So other than price, quality and location...