The discussion on AI's has been in the context of if any AI regardless of size could list on Airbnb. They could if they thought it practical. The biggest problem I see is the price Airbnb charges both the Host and the Renter, which would make the booking less competitive. If a "small" AI wanted to list, they could be very specific about their meal and drink plans so that clients would not book by mistake. True they would have a hard time making a profit if everyone that ever booked just ate and drank 24/7.
- Thread starter TropicalPaul
- Start date
Is this a terrible year so far for tourism?
The discussion on AI's has been in the context of if any AI regardless of size could list on Airbnb. They could if they thought it practical. The biggest problem I see is the price Airbnb charges both the Host and the Renter, which would make the booking less competitive. If a "small" AI wanted to list, they could be very specific about their meal and drink plans so that clients would not book by mistake. True they would have a hard time making a profit if everyone that ever booked just ate and drank 24/7.
The problem with the Ozama River is that during rainy season (and after major storms) it turns brownish due to all the sediments that it carries from inland. That’s the main reason during certain periods of time the nice blue shades of the waters facing Santo Domingo become brown, especially as you get closer to the mouth of the river. While it is true that the river is polluted, the brown appearance is actually a natural occurrence and no amount of cleaning will prevent the river from dumping all that sediment exactly where the artificial beach is suppose to be in order to make SD a beach destination.
Not Terrible for Punta Cana 2 More New Hotels Hyatt
https://thriftytraveler.com/hyatt-all-inclusive-punta-cana-november/
https://thriftytraveler.com/hyatt-all-inclusive-punta-cana-november/
AirBnB doesn't allow large hotels to sign up with them. They only work with small boutique hotels as well as homes. The main reason for this seems to be that they realise that if they start offering hotels, they lose their unique position in the market and also end up becoming more subject to regulation and tax. When they started offering boutique hotels a year ago, this was the reaction from the US hotel industry...
"Airbnb's latest scheme is just further proof the company is trying to play in the hoteling space while evading industry regulations. If Airbnb wants to enter the hoteling business, then it needs to be regulated, taxed and subject to the same safety compliances and oversight that law-abiding hotel companies adhere to each and every day," said Troy Flanagan, a VP at the American Hotel & Lodging Association
People are constantly opening colmados but it doesn't mean to say they are all profitable. In other countries there are authorities which look seriously at demand and supply before giving permission for another hotel to be built. In Dom Rep I suspect much closer attention is given to the size of the backhander given to the authorities than whether it makes sense to have yet another bunch of same-old-same-old all inclusives doing the same thing as all the others.
Love those colmados. Just seeing those chickens being cut on the same cutting board as the cheese. Yummy.
Anybody remember this murder..
https://www-dailysabah-com.cdn.ampp...eraman-stabbed-to-death-in-dominican-republic
I am not surprised that the hotel industry is up in arms. Airbnb is really hurting them and of course they would cry foul.
I have never seen anything in print with Airbnb that disallows one to rent a room in a resort that is owned by the renter, but then I never actually looked for it. I will take your word they are not into that segment of the business.
Less than profitable resorts rarely close, they are usually sold to another investor group in need of a tax advantage. No shortage of these among the large hotel and resort groups around the world.
Resorts get abandoned only when there is zero interest from anyone in taking them over as is happening in places along the North Coast. Companies needing a short term write off are the properties that start construction but never finish and certainly never open. Once in a while an investor group encounters more expense or political obstacles than they bargained for but usually the deciding factor is money and the inability to move the asset to another's portfolio.
Resorts get abandoned only when there is zero interest from anyone in taking them over as is happening in places along the North Coast. Companies needing a short term write off are the properties that start construction but never finish and certainly never open. Once in a while an investor group encounters more expense or political obstacles than they bargained for but usually the deciding factor is money and the inability to move the asset to another's portfolio.
Cleaning up the river - would mean cleaning up the trash which flows down it - which would me actually picking up the garbage from the streets which is a task that still seemed to escape the government even in Gazcue (although somehow they managed to do it in Naco? ) Which could be done with a good recycling program...deposits on plastic bottles..There are some great uses for recycled plastics (although I admit that any sort of work with plastics would probably cause air pollution.
Plus - of course - that lovely sewage smell down by the Hilton....eww
The Paque Guyaba (sp?) used to get a lot of use on the weekends from folks taking the Metro down Gomez to use it. And early in the AM for the outdoor exercise machines. Only the most intrepid would swim there.
But every day there was a huge amount of plastic debris that washed up on the rocks against the Malecon. Every once in a while there would be a huge clean up effort but in a couple of days, it would be full of trash again.
Annie a lot of that trash coming down the river never gets the chance to get picked up. I worked on the river for about a month up above the seaboard barges. seen many many times from the shacks there on the river trash thrown out the door and into the river, sometimes baged up and lots of times not. we won't even comment on the ship dismantling area that is supposed to be closed now.
we only had to get the police out twice in that time frame to get the dead floater out of our anchor ropes.
we only had to get the police out twice in that time frame to get the dead floater out of our anchor ropes.
I agree. My first DR visit many years ago involved staying in an AI-optional timeshare on the North Coast. I optioned NOT to take the package, and went to the supermarket and explored on my own. It was a better deal. In fact, I took one guy to the market and he had never left the place. He kept telling his wife that he left the place and walked around without any problems. Now, he spoke no Spanish, but he did not need it where we were. In any event, as with the all-you-can-eat buffet, I simply do not consume enough for it to be a good deal. Likewise, IMHO, street vendor food tastes better.
It sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. I remember when China issued such an alert as against los EE.UU many years ago. I still laugh about it.
Yes, and in fairly recent developments, some blue chip companies, e.g., Amazon, now allow employees traveling on business to book an Airbnb if the daily rate does not exceed the maximum hotel reimbursement rate. They see it as a cost cutting measure.
Oh there are quite a few, but they are the smaller hotels, not the big hotels. The thing with hotels is that they are huge buildings. Even if you are making a loss, unless it's really really bad, you are better to keep things running and keep the guests coming as the marginal revenue is higher than the marginal cost. The big hotels are a little like huge cruise ships - if they aren't profitable, the original company takes a hit on their investment and sells them at a loss, and then another operator takes them over and usually sells rooms cheaper. And they just get progressively cheaper, so they squeeze the hotels which were previously at the bottom of the market out. Worth remembering that everything in Bavaro / Punta Cana is still relatively new, mainly built in the last 10 years.
I've just had a quick look for Bavaro next week at you can book Serenta Brisass for US$ 49 for two people including tax and service charge and breakfast (that's just US$ 38 plus tax). No it's not a beachfront property, but it's a perfectly nice little hotel with a pool. It was sold recently and it looks to me like the new owners are struggling desperately if that's what they are charging in high season. There are 56 hotels on Booking.com (hotels, not AirBnB's) out of 194 available which are selling at less than US$60 a night.
I also tend to agree. The strange thing is that when you ask people about AI's, most seem to say that the food is pretty average, the drinks are watered down and the entertainment is terrible, but still keep going back. Why? Because they are scared of having to go somewhere new and try out the local food. I guess it's the same market as cruise ships - you want to say you went abroad but you don't really want to have any risks or explore anything new. And maybe that's why AirBnB is doing so well, because there's a section of the population who just love adventure and there is nothing more adventurous than staying in someone you don't know's spare room. Way more risky than a Hilton.
Yes, it would be easy. A nationwide education program using the "carrot and stick" approach. Education in the schools and towards adults. "Don't Be A LitterBug" worked like a charm in NA.
But I really have to wonder if one of the reasons that's not pursued is because what would they do with large mountains of trash (the stuff that's not recycled)? Would this new waste program pay for it self? What would be the dollar amount that would have to come out of tax coffers to make it work? Are they ready to create huge landfills, buy D8's and Waste Compactors to turn it all back into use-able land? Or pay to have it all shipped off the island. Probably not.
Countries with dwindling sources of cheap fresh water turn to costlier alternatives to make up the short fall out of necessity. One of these days some island nation with only so much available land is going to choose out of necessity to adopt the more expensive but infinitely doable plasma incinerator approach. No perfect solutions apart from reducing the generation of the garbage in the first place, but getting rid of it almost completely in a few hours is much preferable to letting it contaminate the ground for generations.
