Is this a terrible year so far for tourism?

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
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I know the hotel market in Santo Domingo reasonably well, and I'm pretty certain that a lot of hotels are having a very rough time. This week, Valentines week, normally very busy, there are five-star hotels like Catalonia selling for US$ 80 for an ocean-view room with breakfast included. I thought this was only a Santo Domingo thing, but yesterday I was talking to a friend who works in Punta Cana airport. He gets monthly stats on visitor numbers and was saying that this season is terrible so far. Flights are arriving half-empty it seems, with passenger numbers considerably down from latin American countries. His take on the situation is that the only airlines which are filling planes and the hotels which are filling rooms are doing so at much lower prices than last year and everyone seems to be struggling.

I'm just interested in hearing other people's opinions on how this season is going. Particularly interested in comments from people who are "in the know" and work in the industry.
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
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Saw that Catalonia offer today too at booking.com and I was a bit surprised.

We will be in the capital for the night of the 14. to 15. (Valentine's Day unrelated :)) and while looking for a room I was surprised how easy it was to find something for that date and how many offers where there despite Valentine's Day.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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I got a great deal 10-12 days ago in StoDom hotel... ZC.........Luca Hotel

Last minute and cheap

Must be slow(er)
 

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
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Maybe its the airbnb effect.

AirBnB certainly has had an effect on the market, not least because AirBnB's don't generally charge ITBIS and never charge the 10% Propina Legal but all hotels have to charge these. The 5 star places are reducing their prices to the rates that the 3 star places used to charge, so everyone is dropping down to a lower price point and bumping into the AirBnB crowd on the way down. But there also seem to be fewer guests around, so there is much more supply and much less demand, at least in the capital.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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dr1.com
Do you know if they count Dominicans that are coming from various countries where they are residents? Jarabacoa is filled with Dominican Yorks right now for carnival.
 
Jan 9, 2004
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Very interesting. So I just wonder if the main issue is over-supply of rooms.

That is certainly a possibility.

Another possibility is the type of tourist. Numbers could be up on the AI side and down for the boutique side due to the type of tourist.


Not to mention the country of origin. Some smaller hotels are known to cater to, and have close relationships with travel companies in specific countries.

Flights from Europe are down, and I suspect tourism from Europe may be down as well.

Based on the numbers from the Banco Central, there is no significant drop in the number of tourists, so the answer seems to lie elsewhere.

Or, its just a short term anomaly for some that will correct itself.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 

KateP

Silver
May 28, 2004
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Every year hoteliers moan and groan that the season was worse than the previous. Been hearing the same thing for over 15 years. Yet hotels continue to be built...

Sent from my BLN-L24 using Tapatalk
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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can it be that some of the flights form europe are connecting somewhere in lesser antilles? which would explain why they arrive to PUJ with lower number of the passengers, after dropping a part of them at one of the small islands.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
AirBnB certainly has had an effect on the market, not least because AirBnB's don't generally charge ITBIS and never charge the 10% Propina Legal but all hotels have to charge these. The 5 star places are reducing their prices to the rates that the 3 star places used to charge, so everyone is dropping down to a lower price point and bumping into the AirBnB crowd on the way down. But there also seem to be fewer guests around, so there is much more supply and much less demand, at least in the capital.

there are only 65 listings in the DR for AirBnB - https://www.airbnb.com/s/Dominican-...select_homes&allow_override[]=&s_tag=IjKNwLWy

I used to check it regularly in the hopes of finding something in some of the more remote places I traveled to..

Don't think that number would affect the market.