Tourism to Increase in 2014

Mar 1, 2009
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I believe that tourism in DR will indeed increase, the name brand and an increasing number of opportunities available in PP, Samana, PC and also Barahona is coming up a lot.
Mexico and Central america are perceived as too violent.
Costa Rica doesn't have the swag as before,
Colombia is still in it's incipient stage, growing strong but still not there yet.
The other islands in the caribbean are still niche other than the Dutch islands which have a very healthy tourism industry.
Also other islands are either too small or also have bad publicity because of crime and drugs.

So believe it or not DR is a tourism powerhouse, if it was up to me I would wish the whole Caribbean to be bustling and hustling, but since it's my island porque no?

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wrecksum

Bronze
Sep 27, 2010
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Don't think punctuality is as much of a worry as is maintenance. ;)

Maintenance is often 'third partied' out to reputable companies who supply everything including qualified manpower and quality control. The operations for these type of outfits is also sub-managed by experienced companies but for sure, nepotism,greed and the inability of certain key personnel to be anywhere at the right time is a severe handicap.

You need a whole, dedicated and capable team working together to make an airline function and there lies the rub.....
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
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I believe that tourism in DR will indeed increase, the name brand and an increasing number of opportunities available in PP, Samana, PC and also Barahona is coming up a lot.
Mexico and Central america are perceived as too violent.
Costa Rica doesn't have the swag as before,
Colombia is still in it's incipient stage, growing strong but still not there yet.
The other islands in the caribbean are still niche other than the Dutch islands which have a very healthy tourism industry.
Also other islands are either too small or also have bad publicity because of crime and drugs.

So believe it or not DR is a tourism powerhouse, if it was up to me I would wish the whole Caribbean to be bustling and hustling, but since it's my island porque no?

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

the other caribbean islands are still niche? what would be your observation on Jamaica? niche? AI was brought to the caribbean by Jamaica. the Issa brothers and Butch Stewart taught the caribbean the prominent business model, which the DR copied.
 

greydread

Platinum
Jan 3, 2007
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the other caribbean islands are still niche? what would be your observation on Jamaica? niche? AI was brought to the caribbean by Jamaica. the Issa brothers and Butch Stewart taught the caribbean the prominent business model, which the DR copied.

True, but then Jamaica taught us how to screw up the business model when the country's leadership went crazy and the pol's started hiring rival gangs of thugs to push their platforms and the Manley/ Seaga wars spilled out into the tourist areas and many ended their vacations earlier swearing never to return. Unless it's on Anguilla or St Barts or Saba or another similar island too small to have enough politics and crime to interfere with their touriam industry, afterall it's not what it is that counts when it comes to tourism, but what People perceive, 1 missing stupid teenager caused the Aruban tourism industry to go into a nosedive 3 full years before the recession that affected the entire region. Even today, they're processing more cruise passengers and fewer stayovers which really sucks if you're in the lodging business.

Tourism took off in Punta Cana because it's not like any other place in the country or in the entire region that I know of. Millions of People from Europe and North America have visited the resorts there and had nice, homogenous experiences in the Bavaro Pleasure Prisons where they never encountered a single Dominican who didn't speak passable English and/ or French and the resort managers and senior staff were all Either European or North American, running events on tight timelines and directing their vacationers' every move, watching over them Mother Hen style and basically ensuring that everything they do from landing to departure. Some vacation, count me out.
 

Conchman

Silver
Jul 3, 2002
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The gorgon is right !!! The statement does need to be examined more closely especially for the North Coast.If you look at February 2013 versa February 2014 there was a 2.4 % drop in tourists to the North Coast. Year to date there has been a 1.2% drop in 2014 versa 2013 for the North Coast 2014 111791 versa 113106 in 2013. The decrease is in POP arrivals and there is an increase in STI arrivals. Perhaps there is a lesson there!

Olly and the Team

There are more tourists arriving at STI airport that actually vacation on the NC, that probably cause a net increase in tourism to the NC, but this would not be a significant number. This is due to the astronomical cost of flying with AA the Miami - POP route.
 
Aug 6, 2006
8,775
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Don't think punctuality is as much of a worry as is maintenance. ;)
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Both are important, maintenance is surely important because planes are up there five miles in the sky, and plummeting tends to eliminate customers and scare others away. But Caribetours seems to be pretty good at both, so it is possible in two dimensional travel at least. I used to fly Dominicana back in the old days, and the biggest problem was that most of the passengers were non-revs, flying for free, because of some relationship with the government or the airline.

On one SDQ-MIA flight, the plane came from Caracas and flew right on without landing. The airline gave a hotel voucher to all the paying passengers. Out of at least 80 people on the flight, only five of us got vouchers, because the rest were flying free.
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
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True, but then Jamaica taught us how to screw up the business model when the country's leadership went crazy and the pol's started hiring rival gangs of thugs to push their platforms and the Manley/ Seaga wars spilled out into the tourist areas and many ended their vacations earlier swearing never to return. Unless it's on Anguilla or St Barts or Saba or another similar island too small to have enough politics and crime to interfere with their touriam industry, afterall it's not what it is that counts when it comes to tourism, but what People perceive, 1 missing stupid teenager caused the Aruban tourism industry to go into a nosedive 3 full years before the recession that affected the entire region. Even today, they're processing more cruise passengers and fewer stayovers which really sucks if you're in the lodging business.

Tourism took off in Punta Cana because it's not like any other place in the country or in the entire region that I know of. Millions of People from Europe and North America have visited the resorts there and had nice, homogenous experiences in the Bavaro Pleasure Prisons where they never encountered a single Dominican who didn't speak passable English and/ or French and the resort managers and senior staff were all Either European or North American, running events on tight timelines and directing their vacationers' every move, watching over them Mother Hen style and basically ensuring that everything they do from landing to departure. Some vacation, count me out.

a very correct assessment of things in Jamaica. 95% of all senior management in the Superclubs and Sandals hotels are locals. the average staff longevity is 5 years. that is tourism working for the locals.
 
May 29, 2006
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The best way to get tourism up is to get the education system upgraded to the point where kids are learning English and/or French. The number of locals who can speak at least some English has gone way up, but there is a very long way to go. More bilingual signs/menus are also a help.

I'm astonished how many hotels are still making it without a decent web page. There are plenty of off the shelf web pages and even something basic with an email link makes a big difference. Relying on third party marketing adds significant costs to a hotel room.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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I am aware that government makes forecasts. Everybody makes forecasts. What I said was that ACCURATE forecasts are generally inaccurate, and should be called "goals". Governments can make budgets, in which they say that they will spend $x on various items. As a rule, they rarely ever get it right. The printer will need more or less toner, the soldiers will wear out more of fewer shoes, the president's wife will use more or fewer rolls of toilet paper. Budgets are usually more accurate than forecasts, but still are rarely entirely accurate. This particular forecast is based on luring tourists to the DR from over a dozen countries. I cannot imagine how it could be anything but a goal.

What I know about businesses and governments is that they pretend to know it all, and when it is apparent that they did not know it all, they rewrite history and claim they really meant their forecasts to be as they actually turned out. I read shareholders reports all the time, and it is very rare that the predictions in any given year actually come out in the following year's report. There are either lame excuses or they ignore the previous report entirely. Only the money balances, because the law requires it.
What a load of...nothing. On a lot of words.

You seem to be making a case for not forecasting since they are inaccurate.

It's clear you and business are in different universes.
 
May 29, 2006
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Does anyone watch the Golf Channels? That's where I'd advertise the DR. I hear numerous celebs like golfing on the North Coast and the demo spends more than the families staying at the AIs. Those golf tournaments make for great PR too. Anything sponsored in the DR? Geez, put the Cabarete Kiteboarding events on TV somewhere. Sixty second spots on Sabado Gigante can only go so far..
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
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Does anyone watch the Golf Channels? That's where I'd advertise the DR. I hear numerous celebs like golfing on the North Coast and the demo spends more than the families staying at the AIs. Those golf tournaments make for great PR too. Anything sponsored in the DR? Geez, put the Cabarete Kiteboarding events on TV somewhere. Sixty second spots on Sabado Gigante can only go so far..

the problem with any ad on tv is the existence of the remote control. people tend to surf when the ads come on. the trick is to do what Sandals does, which is to use the actual program as a commercial, such as having Wheel of Fortune episodes filmed at the hotels. you can't turn that off. if you had your name plastered on the side of a NASCAR car, people would see it over and over during the race, also.
 
May 29, 2006
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Yeah, that's my point in doing well sponsored golf tournaments on the north coast. I've also seen shows on International House Hunters in Cabarete on HDTV. Put some give aways on Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune, but that's not the high spending demo.

They should be pushing second homes and retiring in the DR. I see ads for Belize all the time as a retirement spot. Snow birds don't just blow money on vacations and casinos; they also renovate properties, build their own homes and open doomed beach bars. Sounds like money to me. I hate gated communities in the US, but that's what the DR needs to bring in money from abroad.

They're still targeting tourists with modest incomes for brief family vacations. Step it up and go for the folks with the six digit incomes on the long term.
 

Olly

Bronze
Mar 12, 2007
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In post #18 the Team gave some figures for the North Coast. Here are the new figures for March 2014 compared to March 2013 both Month on Month and YTD.

Month on Month Tourism to the North Coast is DOWN 4.1% .

Totals for March 2013 including STI and POP are - STI 17,252 - POP - 48,978. For March 2014 - STI 22974, - POP 48729. As Conchman said in another thread not all the US people coming to STI come to the North Coast - but Conchman Where do they Go !!!

Year To date Tourism to the North Coast is DOWN 2.25 % .

Totals 2013 Year to End of March STI - 38,006 - POP 141,330

Totals Year To Date 2014 March STI - 37742 POP 137,541

So where are they all going ! Not to the north Coast !!

Olly and the Team
 
Aug 6, 2006
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XO, every well-managed business on the planet forecasts revenues/costs/etc.

Gubmint forecasts.

I can see bidniz and numbers just aren't your realm...
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I know that businesses and governments make predictions. I also know that these rarely turn out to be accurate. In the case of tourism, the number of tourists depends on a huge number of factors that are not within the abilities of anyone in a small country to tailor to their wishes. Perhaps tourism will reach 8% or even 9% or drop to 6%. I simply find quoting predictions as FACTS to be foolish.
 

greydread

Platinum
Jan 3, 2007
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I know that businesses and governments make predictions. I also know that these rarely turn out to be accurate. In the case of tourism, the number of tourists depends on a huge number of factors that are not within the abilities of anyone in a small country to tailor to their wishes. Perhaps tourism will reach 8% or even 9% or drop to 6%. I simply find quoting predictions as FACTS to be foolish.
Pure classical economists always fail to connect economics to the biosphere where there is no such thing as "sustained growth".

Everything that increases is the direct result of a decrease somewhere else.

Funniest part is that the areas which were marginalized since the industrial age are the areas of current growth and the areas of historical growth are moving towards marginalization (Western Europe and America). It seems that what goes around comes around after all.
 

b?rbaro

New member
Jul 9, 2014
154
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Tourism to increase by 8% in 2014

Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia is forecasting an 8% increase in tourism to the Dominican Republic in 2014. During a speech yesterday, Wednesday 26 March during the opening ceremony of the Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange (DATE) in Punta Cana, organized by the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores), the minister said that 2014 had got off to a great start. He forecast an "extraordinary" year for the industry. Garcia attributed part of this success to the Ministry of Tourism's advertising campaign overseas.

Dominican Republic News & Travel Information Service

I wonder where in the DR they are going to have the increase, certainly not here in Boca Chica.
Love the name of the association ;)
And talking about slapping yourself on the back!!!

Finally the increase has been 10%

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