Current state of Toque de Queda/ shutdowns/ curfews

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Ecoman1949

Ecoman1949

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Cdn_Gringo said:
If and when WestJet starts flying into POP again that becomes a viable option. We'll see. I would prefer to wait out most the winter though.
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I can get West jet from St. John’s, NL to POP return on Jan 05th for $645. Just checked. Routing is St. John’s to Toronto to POP. Mid December arrival also available but more money, $950. I’ll decide by mid November. I already have a flight credit for my cancelled return to the DR last April. If I book and it gets cancelled again, they will put it back into my credits. If I have to go through Punta Cana to get to Puerto Plata, so be it. I’m not spending most of the winter in Atlantic Canada.
 
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TropicalPaul

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Hotels are busy, particularly at weekends, but mainly with Dominicans. The curfew means that options for nights out are limited so a lot of people are staying in hotels. This isn't just AI's, it's across the board. Tourist arrivals are still very very low. Air France is going to 3 flights per week to Punta Cana in December, last year it operated 8. British Airways has cancelled all Punta Cana flights until January. And although loads on the flights like Iberia from Madrid (5 times per week to Santo Domingo) and Jetblue are good, a big part of this is Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) traffic.
 
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Tom0910

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william webster said:
Might it be that there are many Dominicans on those flights ??

Not visitors?

Fewer flights = more pax per flight
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I flew into POP on Oct.16th. Jetblue flight BOS-JFK-POP. The default flight for the "jetblue crew" yet there was only a handful of them at most,it was ALL Dominicans,no tourists whatsoever. I was the ONLY white Anglo Saxon American on that flight,a flight I have taken 50+ times,it was very telling.
 
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johne

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william webster said:
Gringo -

RE: Bank lines...
Over 65 gets you in - NO LINE!

Bravo Supermarket (& Nacional?)
65+ gets you front of the line

The culture respects age here !!!
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That might be true but sometimes one wants that feeling of 30 years ago when you said "Back off buddy"! :cool:
 
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Mcinbrass

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Garyexpat said:
I can tell you this about flight load from my experience and experience of 2 friends. I flew back about a week ago into SDQ, flight was packed. I picked up a friend about a month ago who flew back into STI, his flight was packed. I saw a friend that flew in from Newark into POP about a week ago, packed. The airlines have to be happy with the seat load and I read on Listin Diario that more flights were just approved for I believe 4 different airlines.
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DR flights are always packed. If I was starting an airline, my first route would be to DR.
 
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cavok

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Cabarete
I've been watching MIA-POP closely. American has had 5 flights/week(6 for November). They're flying the A319 - 40 seats less than the 737 used pre-pandemic. Flights are full some days and then almost empty on others like the day I returned - maybe 30 passengers. Average load factor is around 60%.
 
Garyexpat

Garyexpat

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GusFring said:
So why are the Ai's and airbnbs empty lol..
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Like William suggested on my SDQ flight it was mostly Dominicans. STI flight of my friend was a mix, not going to any AI's in Santiago and the POP flight was mostly full of Weekend warriors headed to Sosua.
 
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william webster

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The Government has no plans to eliminate curfew on Christmas and New Years
Abinader says he does not want a regrowth in the Dominican Republic

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … GH22524354

The Government has no plans to eliminate curfew on Christmas and New Years

The Government is not contemplating eliminating the curfew and other restriction measures currently in place to control the coronavirus for Black Friday and the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The President of the Republic said that good measures have been taken to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country, and also pointed out that the countries where there was a total opening of the economy and activities, there was a resurgence of infections.

Although he stressed that the final decision will be made by the technicians and the health cabinet led by Vice President Raquel Peña, he said that the gradualness with which the measures in the state of emergency have been made more flexible have allowed COVID-19 to be controlled.

“So far this gradualness has paid off for the country. If you observe other countries that have fully opened, there has been a reappearance that we do not want in the Dominican Republic ”, he said at the conclusion of the session of the Council of Ministers in San Cristóbal where he announced an investment of more than 2,000 million pesos in infrastructure works , schools, hospitals and museum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think this is a good idea.

If RD is known - or seen - to be having an outbreak - an out of control increase in cases,
it can only be bad for tourism...... and the population

Personally, I am more comfortable, feel safer , here than I would in many places.

My UK daughter has retreated to friends in the country - lockdown

I was in SD this week-
Masks being well used but the social distancing is hard - nigh impossible - to achieve

The number of people, the street configurations don't encourage it.
Add to that the culture and the years of habit......

But they're trying.... I was in the Gazcue
 
JD Jones

JD Jones

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GusFring said:
So why are the Ai's and airbnbs empty lol..
Click to expand...
Do you read the local newspapers Gus?

Collado: Hotel occupations in Punta Cana and Samaná are full during long weekend​

  • More than 120 Tourism supervisors will monitor the sanitary protocol in the hotels
Pedro Martín Sánchez - SANTO DOMINGO 06/11/2020, 06:41 PM

During this long weekend, most hotels in the East and Samaná are reserved at their maximum capacity, while Puerto Plata has 65 and 70%, according to David Collado, Minister of Tourism.

Volume 90%

During this long weekend, most hotels in the East and Samaná are reserved at their maximum capacity, while Puerto Plata has 65% and 70%, according to David Collado, Minister of Tourism.
Collado indicated that hotel occupancy in October increased by 50%. In September 49 thousand tourists arrived, while in October more than 71 thousand tourists landed in the Dominican Republic.
For this weekend, Collado said that more than 120 Mitur supervisors will unexpectedly visit some hotels to verify compliance with sanitary regulations.
 
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johne

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william webster said:
Great !!

I think the country is doing better than many realize...... in a variety of areas
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Two excellent restaurants in JD last night very nice crowds. Outdoor patio area full, light crowd inside. That's where I ate. Sparse crowd and AC.
 
David B

David B

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Aug 31, 2017
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JDJones said:
Do you read the local newspapers Gus?

Collado: Hotel occupations in Punta Cana and Samaná are full during long weekend​

  • More than 120 Tourism supervisors will monitor the sanitary protocol in the hotels
Pedro Martín Sánchez - SANTO DOMINGO 06/11/2020, 06:41 PM

During this long weekend, most hotels in the East and Samaná are reserved at their maximum capacity, while Puerto Plata has 65 and 70%, according to David Collado, Minister of Tourism.

Volume 90%

During this long weekend, most hotels in the East and Samaná are reserved at their maximum capacity, while Puerto Plata has 65% and 70%, according to David Collado, Minister of Tourism.
Collado indicated that hotel occupancy in October increased by 50%. In September 49 thousand tourists arrived, while in October more than 71 thousand tourists landed in the Dominican Republic.
For this weekend, Collado said that more than 120 Mitur supervisors will unexpectedly visit some hotels to verify compliance with sanitary regulations.
Click to expand...

I imagine it's easy to achieve 65% occupancy en Puerto Plata when 65% of the resorts haven't re-opened yet!
 
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David B

David B

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Aug 31, 2017
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william webster said:
The Government has no plans to eliminate curfew on Christmas and New Years
Abinader says he does not want a regrowth in the Dominican Republic

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … GH22524354

The Government has no plans to eliminate curfew on Christmas and New Years

The Government is not contemplating eliminating the curfew and other restriction measures currently in place to control the coronavirus for Black Friday and the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The President of the Republic said that good measures have been taken to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country, and also pointed out that the countries where there was a total opening of the economy and activities, there was a resurgence of infections.

Although he stressed that the final decision will be made by the technicians and the health cabinet led by Vice President Raquel Peña, he said that the gradualness with which the measures in the state of emergency have been made more flexible have allowed COVID-19 to be controlled.

“So far this gradualness has paid off for the country. If you observe other countries that have fully opened, there has been a reappearance that we do not want in the Dominican Republic ”, he said at the conclusion of the session of the Council of Ministers in San Cristóbal where he announced an investment of more than 2,000 million pesos in infrastructure works , schools, hospitals and museum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think this is a good idea.

If RD is known - or seen - to be having an outbreak - an out of control increase in cases,
it can only be bad for tourism...... and the population

Personally, I am more comfortable, feel safer , here than I would in many places.

My UK daughter has retreated to friends in the country - lockdown

I was in SD this week-
Masks being well used but the social distancing is hard - nigh impossible - to achieve

The number of people, the street configurations don't encourage it.
Add to that the culture and the years of habit......

But they're trying.... I was in the Gazcue
Click to expand...

Was following the daily COVID deaths in the DR for months and I just find it so odd that, when they were averaging 20 to 20 a day, suddenly the number dropped to 3 - 5 the same time Abinader says he's opening up shop again for tourism. Call me a cynic.
 
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Cdn_Gringo

Cdn_Gringo

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I'm still seeing a lot of people on the street not necessarily engaged in essential activities. Sosua is just humming with activity most days. patrons are in the bars, there are always people sitting in the restaurants and on the patios the traffic is horrendous. People everywhere. many sitting or standing talking with others anywhere it is convenient. Maybe the public education campaign needs to be stepped up on TV and the radio to remind people that "only they can slow the spread of CV19" and help their country avoid a resurgence of infection. A public service blitz 9-12 and 3-6 during the educational programming might make sense at this time.

Are we now believing the govt numbers? I find it hard to believe that the number of infections is significantly reduced based on the individual behaviors that I see when I have to venture into town. Sosua these days sure seems reminiscent of pre-covid activity with albeit fewer tourists and a few empty table/chairs in some eateries. I don't yet feel comfortable sitting in a restaurant or bar among strangers being served by mask-less staff and others who are for obvious reasons are not wearing masks either. If I did I'm sure I would notice the disappearance of some of the regulars as they nurse themselves back to health from time to time. By isolating myself much of the time I have lost those daily observations that would allow me to make a much better visual assessment of who is getting infected and who is not and which of my past hangouts seem to be places of disease spread. That lack of firsthand information just leads to more uncertainty and suspicion of the govt's claims. Even the reported numbers seem to suggest that my part of the north coast is far from the stated low infection rate that the govt is looking to achieve and I can see why that may be.

The curfew seems to be having a very limited effect on disease spread numbers but it is difficult to gauge when I am stuck at home as I do not wish to encounter the police when I'm not supposed to be out. Negotiating their way out of arrest is best left to others and comes at the cost of boots on the ground information which I miss these days.
 
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