El Faro front cover - hotels closing in Playa Dorada

[planner]

For the record - my comment on cheap tourists was not meant to be derogatory but simply a statement of what has transpired this year.

We have an unfair comparison of the peso to dollar or peso to Euro. Last year tourists got an unbelievable exhange rate. This year it is back down and now people are complaining. The reality is that last year was absolutely incredible for the tourists. It is not the normal. One year before that it was closer to "normal". Anyone comparing to last year is going to be upset. If you compare to 2 years ago you should still be quite happy with the current exchange rates.

For whatever reasons, the tourists this year have been spending much less then average. And that calculation is made in US dollars, not pesos! I am quite sure there are a multitude of reasons, including the costs of packages, airfares and hotel rates rising!

 

[FireGuy]

The reality is that last year was absolutely incredible for the tourists. It is not the normal. One year before that it was closer to "normal". Anyone comparing to last year is going to be upset. If you compare to 2 years ago you should still be quite happy with the current exchange rates.

Planner - am I an anomaly?

April 2003 - 2 weeks AI 4* - $4.5* - $3600.00 CDN Taxes included (Bahia Principe)

April 2004 - 2 weeks AI 4* - $4.5* - $3600.00 CDN Taxes included (Breezes)

April 2005 - 2 weeks AI 4* - $4.5* - $3000.00 CDN Taxes included (Coral Marien)

I don't see that my experience follows your explanation as my costs (2 people) have decreased, not increased. Just curious how this sits with your experience.

 

[planner]

Is the last one a typo? DId you mean april 2005 for the Bahia Principe???

First understand that pricing structure on each hotel is different and it will be different depending on what company you booked it through. So it is tough to compare. In my opinion the Bahia Principe does not rank up there with Breezes or Coral Marien. First the Bahia is quite aways out! It isn't near anything except rio san juan. Personally I disliked that hotel. To really compare we would have to look at pricing for the same package each year at each hotel. Then we can see the trends.

We can also have a whole thread on the star rating system!

However, my comment was more about what you can buy with your money once you arrive. What you would spend in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for the same items would be different. And of course you would be looking at whether it was priced in pesos or dollars. So, tours priced in US dollars have gone up somewhat from 2003 to 2005.

But compare a meal in a restaurant in POP priced in pesos. Let's assume that the meal cost 300 pesos in 2003 . That might have been $ 17.65 US, with the exchange rate at 17. Last year with the exchange rate at say 50 it cost $6 US. Now at 28 it would cost $ 10.71 US. YOur buying power is very different from year to year. If I compare to 2004 from this year then yes it is very expensive. But if I compare to 2003, it is less expensive.

Assuming you spend the same amount of pesos, you will spend varying amounts of US dollars for the same thing.

Okay, we all know that the meal for 300 pesos in 2003 probably costs 400 now. But, that is another calculation...

Do you see my point?

 

[carina]

I think...

there are two different issues being discussed here Gregg.
You are talking about the hotel costs/debts as was I in the original thread, and Gringo and HB.
Planner is talking about the exchange rates changes and what a tourist can get for the pesos now vs before, and that has of course changed.

But the buttom line is that the hotels are paid in US and the tourists don?t pay their excursions, nor vacationclub packages in pesos.

The higher cost is at the other end, the seller gets higher costs due to the
lower exchangerate, as food, salaries etc are still the same or costs even more than before and are paid in pesos.
The tourist is not affected by this until he/she goes out and spend money in the local areas/shops/bars etc.

 

[carina]

An interesting fact...

... about accommodation in the Puerto Plata area might be that in
1967 there were 35 rooms available in the POP area, 20 of those were at Long Beach ( Luis Pelegrin of course! ) and another 15 around..
Now there are over 5500 rooms available...

 

[Gringo]

This is a fact!

I was talking with a Brit today who told me he paid 500 BPS. for a two week stay at an AI Resort......

This same Brit told me he had come down here 11 years ago and also stayed at an AI Resort and paid at that time 550 BPS.

GO Figure.......

Gringo

 

[Dominican Babe]

I was talking with a Brit today who told me he paid 500 BPS. for a two week stay at an AI Resort

It is often possible to get "last minute" deals like this from UK. However, more often than not, accommodation is allocated on arrival, and when you book all you know is that you will be staying on the north coast, south coast or east coast. You don't actually know where. Fine if you are not fussed, but no good if you want to stay at a particular hotel.

I have just returned to UK from Gran Ventana, Playa Dorada. The place was full - I always go at the same time and I have never, ever, seen so many people there, and they were mostly Brits. There were a lot of Irish people there who had travelled with the new charter company Sun World from Dublin.