have been coming down for over 15 years and own a condo just east of cabarete and have never seen it so slow. more than 1/2 of the restaurants on the beach are closed and the one,s that are open aren,t very busy. noted d,hot has closed since here last and I thought their food was great and was something different . is this the result of all the bad publicity which was mostly in punta cana or the high airline fares into Puerta plata ? or is it entirely different?
- Thread starter jfk-tampa
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cabarete slowly dying?
Maybe it was cleaned up by the authorities, what happened to all the family tourists, I guess they didn't make it... ! lol
That's what they are planning for all the north coast, cleaned up, empty spaces - and low real estate prices, so the local rich money grabbers can move in and take over, long time plan, but they are working on it.
That's what they are planning for all the north coast, cleaned up, empty spaces - and low real estate prices, so the local rich money grabbers can move in and take over, long time plan, but they are working on it.
This summer in Cabarete has been particularly quiet. I think the OP is right is his assessment that bad publicity in Punta Cana, which is applied to the whole DR, plus the high price of flying to Puerto Plata, are contributory factors. There were also NO direct summer flights from Europe to POP this year. However, things are already starting to get busier for the snowbird season and I expect many, if not all, of the currently closed restaurants to re-open soon.
All the bad publicity in the states is definitely a factor. it was months long everyday in the media. no real news, just fear this kinda stuff. no one could put two and two together, kept showing pictures of unhealthy looking people, and then a headline "look who died in the DR today!!! don't drink the liquor!, don't go there. people even die on the way!" really seemed conspiratorial to me.
all started with the speeding drunks on the way to the airport ending up in the sea.
all started with the speeding drunks on the way to the airport ending up in the sea.
We just got thru October and starting into November. Always a slow time of year in Cabarete, along with the weeks prior to Semana Santa.
The wind isn’t conducive to kiting, kids are back in school and college, and it’s neither winter nor summer vacation time.
The Jazz festival provides a bump and this past 3 day weekend the town was noticeably busier. Thanksgiving will also provide a small increase as some Americans make a long weekend trip down.
Historically it’s a time that restaurant owners take vacation. Personally, it’s one of my favorite times of year here. Quiet, easy parking, and the heat is waning... no complaints.
Come mid-December things will pick up again for the winter season.
The wind isn’t conducive to kiting, kids are back in school and college, and it’s neither winter nor summer vacation time.
The Jazz festival provides a bump and this past 3 day weekend the town was noticeably busier. Thanksgiving will also provide a small increase as some Americans make a long weekend trip down.
Historically it’s a time that restaurant owners take vacation. Personally, it’s one of my favorite times of year here. Quiet, easy parking, and the heat is waning... no complaints.
Come mid-December things will pick up again for the winter season.
The slow down in Cabarete has nothing to do with a clean up. I suspect you are thinking of Sosua and the police action last night. Only one whore house was moved out of Cabarete, the one near Janet's, and they were given notice to leave, moved to Sosua and were shut down in Sosua for promoting prostitution, which is illegal. A clean up has nothing to do with Cabarete's problems. Nor is your conspiracy theory at work here.
All of the north coast has slowed down over the past 16 years. It has to do with hotels being turned into condos, Punta Cana being the focus of DR tourism with no promotion of the north coast, existing AI resorts fell into disrepair, hence fewer airlines flying to POP, that increased costs of airlines flights and caused bad connections to POP for those the remained. And of course all of the bad publicity and fake news did not help tourism throughout the country.
Those are the reasons Cabarete and all of the north coast have fewer tourists than before. Not any government action.
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it will get better ... a LOT better
. I am hearing Lots of POSITIVE talk here in the states for example , people who never even heard of the DR before , and believed the MSM Negative Publicity , but now after the FBI report see it was all complete BS. and DR is in fact VERY SAFE ,especially compared to Mexico where it is common knowledge that you do NOT leave your Resort once you check it .
Spring 2020 imho is going to be HUGE for DR Tourism ,, people are booking already for Spring .
The Fake Negative stuff may have actually HELPED the DR in the long run .
. I am hearing Lots of POSITIVE talk here in the states for example , people who never even heard of the DR before , and believed the MSM Negative Publicity , but now after the FBI report see it was all complete BS. and DR is in fact VERY SAFE ,especially compared to Mexico where it is common knowledge that you do NOT leave your Resort once you check it .
Spring 2020 imho is going to be HUGE for DR Tourism ,, people are booking already for Spring .
The Fake Negative stuff may have actually HELPED the DR in the long run .
CNBC (financial station) that had a segment looking at the travel industry with 4 of the major players reported "sales" way down the last quarter, adding to the other quarters already down for this year. Trivago and Tripadvisor are 2 that I remember of the 4. They also listed overall room bookings for Marriott, Hilton and another down. These are worldwide bookings so it's not just the D.R.
Add to that the loss of Thomas Cook and Air Berlin kinda sees a pattern?
Add to that the loss of Thomas Cook and Air Berlin kinda sees a pattern?
Cabarete tourism has been heading downward for years. If the fake news problems really help DR tourism, they will help Punta Cana far more than Cabarete, Sosua and Puerto Plata simply because there are so many more hotels and flights to Punta Cana. I don't expect any dramatic recoveries of tourism on the north coast. I do expect a slowly growing expat population that is here 6 months or more each year.
Was down in July and October and spent a few days in Cabarete each time. July was slow there and October was slower. Resort prices on Travago, etc. show high to normal for Cabarete and Playa Dorada for January to mid March with sweet deals mixed in. Lifestyles Cabarete, two weeks including AI, $1600 CDN all in. Just one example.
And the cost of things here, food, drink and stays in AIs are no longer the super bargain they were once upon a time.
If you are couple or a family of 4 and airline tickets to POP cost $400 more per person would you come to the North Coast or Punta Cana for a week of beach time ?
Far more Canadians, is my experience, than Americans.
The decline in Cabarete tourism has been on going for years and I explained why that happened over a long period of time. The bad publicity is just another factor in the mix.