Will Cuba opening its doors to USA affect DR tourism ?

[AnnaC]

Some people sound very worried

May I suggest that something be done about all the crime in the NC or things will change and fast. Talk to your politicians

 

[Derfish]

Just look at the way they have to survive and how they do it.
Another very important difference between Cubans and Dominicans is that Cubans are better educated which will help in the development of the country.

I put over a dozen Cubans working over the years and found only one who could read and write in his own language. He was a doctor back on "The Island" as the Miami Herald always worded it. But sprayed paint for me while he worked on getting his license to practice medicine. The rest all had the problem of not understanding the idea of a Cap letter to start a sentence and a . to finish it. And the same confusion the average Dominican has as to not knowing aboutseperat ingwords instead of runningthem together and split tingthem inthe middle.
Der Fish

 

[AnnaC]

I put over a dozen Cubans working over the years and found only one who could read and write in his own language. He was a doctor back on "The Island" as the Miami Herald always worded it. But sprayed paint for me while he worked on getting his license to practice medicine. The rest all had the problem of not understanding the idea of a Cap letter to start a sentence and a . to finish it. And the same confusion the average Dominican has as to not knowing aboutseperat ingwords instead of runningthem together and split tingthem inthe middle.
Der Fish

Fishy dear, the people you met except for the doctor are the ones that didn't go to school, were not interested in book learning because they could be rich elsewhere. BTW many countries do not use a cap for the first word in a sentence. Ask DV8 about it.

 

[Derfish]

Fishy dear, the people you met except for the doctor are the ones that didn't go to school, were not interested in book learning because they could be rich elsewhere. BTW many countries do not use a cap for the first word in a sentence. Ask DV8 about it. :}

Shouldn't that be many languages do not use a cap? Isn't Spanish Spanish to the educated Spanish speaking person. And the idea that thoise who couldn't get along in their own country were the ones who arrove in Miami has been atheme of mine for ever. Some people refer to them as the Renegade Cubans. They cannot get along in their own country so go to the USA to cause problems.
Der Fish

 

[AnnaC]

And the idea that thoise who couldn't get along in their own country were the ones who arrove in Miami has been atheme of mine for ever. Some people refer to them as the Renegade Cubans. They cannot get along in their own country so go to the USA to cause problems.
Der Fish

Exactly! I'd worry more about what will happen to the DR than a few Cubans you met that couldn't spell

 

[jeb321]

I put over a dozen Cubans working over the years and found only one who could read and write in his own language. He was a doctor back on "The Island" as the Miami Herald always worded it. But sprayed paint for me while he worked on getting his license to practice medicine. The rest all had the problem of not understanding the idea of a Cap letter to start a sentence and a . to finish it. And the same confusion the average Dominican has as to not knowing aboutseperat ingwords instead of runningthem together and split tingthem inthe middle.
Der Fish

This is one of the more ridiculous posts. Cubans are smart ... Very smart. And somehow your post sound fishy..fish.
Look at your fellow Dominicans And answer the original post

 

[jeb321]

Kipling, you don't see Cuba rapidly building some 5 star hotels and clubs to entice some of the South Beach or Punta Cana crowd?

It has already been announced Starwood hotels renovating 2 hotels in Havana. They will be 5 star .. Real 5 star hotels not what
dominicans call 5 star. Cuba will reopen luxuriously so quickly the Punta Cana crowd .. those who want Cap Cana will disappear to Havana and beyond. As I have written before Dominican Republic should be worried very very worried. But those greedy
souls in Bavaro who opened all those AI hotels Dominicans have opted for get rich quick low level places (with gorgeous beaches) have/had
no idea about "serving a discerning public". And most of those hotels in Bavaro attract a certain type of clientele..those who do
not choose a Cap Cana which itself is severely lacking in good/quality service. Cuba and all the high end investment currently
negotiating for licensing including Marriott will get the tourists. And of course the Cubans have been educated while most
Dominicans cannot read nor care to. How sad.

 

[jeb321]

Not so

DR is probably one of the better prepared for the Cuban competition. The DR isn't as dependent on the US market as some nearby islands (Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Jamaica; Cancun -not an island, but a major player in Caribbean tourism-, Aruba, and most of the other islands all depend on American tourists for well over 80% of their visitors, in many cases well over 90%). The has been competing with Cuba for the Canadian/Latin American/European markets and it has done very well.

The influx of American tourists might decrease for the DR (and across the Caribbean) as they head for Cuba instead, but they will displace many Canadian/Latin American/European tourists that vacation in Cuba. This displaced group is used to mainly European AI chains (the European AI chains in Cuba are the same players in the DR), and the DR is the best prepared to accommodate that group. DR has the hotel chains they know and trust, the flights connections to their airports (Punta Cana has the most flights to Europe of any Latin American airport and most major Canadian cities have direct flights too), the trained hotel staff that speaks their languages and/or knows the treatment they are used to, etc.

If we take Puerto Rico as an example. They overwhelmingly depend on American from the eastern seaboard. They hardly have flights to Europe, hotel chains are overwhelmingly American and mostly non-AI. Puerto Rican staff in most of their hotels probably understand English and that's it as far as non-native languages. There is no way PR can get ready in time for the Cuban competition, because once Americans start to head more towards Cuban than PR, they are going to have a hard time attracting the hoards of Europeans/Canadians/Latin Americans displaced from Cuba. Not many Russians, Germans, Italians, French are going to visit PR if there are no or too few direct flights when just across the Mona Passage thousands of Europeans from all over Europe arrive every single day in Punta Cana.

Jamaica faces a similar dilemma as PR, but at least Jamaica has the AI resorts even if only a few of the European chains. But they also face severe restrictions due to sparse flights to Europe/Latin America and their hotel workforce is overwhelmingly trained to cater to American quirks and nonsense which doesn't always rubs well with Europeans. Another negative for Jamaica is that its not a Latin country while DR is probably the closest thing to a Cuba without being in Cuba. While many people don't care where their resort is, a lot of people that travel to Cuba do so also because it is a Latin/Hispanic place with the vibe to go along with that. People that like to listen to Spanish/Latin American music by the pool might not get in their vacation mood listening to reggae or hip hop or whatever is not Latin.

Point is that DR is much better prepared than most of the Caribbean.

Cuba also needs to Americanize its hotel offerings. Americans are very picky and whiny people. Europeans take it as part of the experience when they have to eat in open air restaurants with the breeze soothing their skins, etc. That same scene is a nightmare for Americans, because most will not feel comfortable if there's no A/C, and the they will complain about the odd bug that flies through, get annoyed at the slower pace of things, and a very long whiny and annoying etc.

I believe you are quite wrong in your assessment of Cuba and DR

 

[Riva_31]

It has already been announced Starwood hotels renovating 2 hotels in Havana. They will be 5 star .. Real 5 star hotels not what
dominicans call 5 star. Cuba will reopen luxuriously so quickly the Punta Cana crowd .. those who want Cap Cana will disappear to Havana and beyond. As I have written before Dominican Republic should be worried very very worried. But those greedy
souls in Bavaro who opened all those AI hotels Dominicans have opted for get rich quick low level places (with gorgeous beaches) have/had
no idea about "serving a discerning public". And most of those hotels in Bavaro attract a certain type of clientele..those who do
not choose a Cap Cana which itself is severely lacking in good/quality service. Cuba and all the high end investment currently
negotiating for licensing including Marriott will get the tourists. And of course the Cubans have been educated while most
Dominicans cannot read nor care to. How sad.

We must improve our services and dont fall sleep but never worried, is the rule in all kind of business, you get for what you paid, the people that want to receive very good service they go to Hard Rock Cafe Hotel where one room can cost 200.00 dollars a night, they will open a new Hotel in Santo Domingo too, or guess what? do you know how much cost a night at JW Marriot In Santo Domingo? 300.00 dollars a night, so every place has their public, and If you didnt know they only people arround the world that wasent allowd to visit Cuba was people from USA, with the rest of the world we are already competing with Cuba, Canada, Mexico, South America, Central America, Europe and the rest of the world can visit Cuba and we are competing not only with Cuba, also with Mexico.

 

[SKY]

The average price for a room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana is $500-600 per night. That is
for the cheapest room rates. Suites are a lot higher.

 

[Rustxko]

I think the Punta Cana AI folks have the most to worry about, but it won't be their end. The north coast tourists seem to me to be mostly European, Canadian, or US east coast folks. Aside from the US east coast folks, Cuba holds no new appeal to them.

However if I'm an infrequent tourist from Denver, Omaha, Memphis, etc, the Varadero brochure is going to look a lot like the Punta Cana one, and it'll be closer and probably as cheap.

As for the folks who say American tourists will have no interest in Cuba, I'll be in Cuba within a month of them saying I can go, but that is just speaking for myself.

However, the attitude of the Cuban people will determine whether I return or not more so than the infrastructure.

 

[jeb321]

When Communism fell Cuban leaders weren't smart enough to see the handwriting on the wall. You really think that a people stuck in the 60s are ready to move forward?
Maybe but again the DR is light years ahead. Do you think the average American who won't leave the a-i is really that interested in Cuba? I doubt it.

So wrong you are. Just wait and see what these Cubans are going to be capable of. The DR is lightyears ahead of no one.
You sound pretty ignorant of carribbean tourism on islands like Martinique, Guadeloupe, Anguilla, BVI , St Barts etc etc etc, and
those islands offer Great food and beaches and service and literate people who know how to give good hotel service and also
offer quality tourism. I believe Cuba will catch up pretty quickly and those "people stuck in the 60s" will be racing by. You
really sound like you just do not get it.

 

[jeb321]

Cubans are educated in the sense they can read and write, just like the North Koreans. They are told what to think. Dominicans may not have easy access to schools, but they have freedom and can own their own real estate , business and move about freely. Cuba is so far behind, it will be 25 years before they have anything close to freedom and will not be considered as a vacation to Americans with money for decades. The Cubans are still literally killing themselves to get to the States

Not for too much longer.

 

[pauleast]

So are Dominicans so what's your point?
Have you been to Cuba and spoken to the people? I have and I see the difference between the 2 nations, if you don't you're blind.
Cubans invent in order to make their lives better, the Dominican just looks for the easiest way.

If you don't know the difference from living under a dictator to living free in a democratic society then you will never get my point. Just because you went to Cuba and smoked some cigars and stayed at a low rent all inclusive tacky resort and spoke with government puppets hardly makes you informed. I live in the D.R , Cuba will not have the freedom we have here in my lifetime.

 

[pauleast]

So wrong you are. Just wait and see what these Cubans are going to be capable of. The DR is lightyears ahead of no one.
You sound pretty ignorant of carribbean tourism on islands like Martinique, Guadeloupe, Anguilla, BVI , St Barts etc etc etc, and
those islands offer Great food and beaches and service and literate people who know how to give good hotel service and also
offer quality tourism. I believe Cuba will catch up pretty quickly and those "people stuck in the 60s" will be racing by. You
really sound like you just do not get it.

Are you really comparing St Barts, Martinique,BVI to Cuba. You cant be serious. Cuba has a "dictator" as in if you disagree with him you sit in jail or worse. Great food ????? Not in Cuba. The only decent infrastructure on that whole island is on the U.S side, which we will NEVER give up.

 

[DRob]

Cubans are educated in the sense they can read and write, just like the North Koreans. They are told what to think. Dominicans may not have easy access to schools, but they have freedom and can own their own real estate , business and move about freely. Cuba is so far behind, it will be 25 years before they have anything close to freedom and will not be considered as a vacation to Americans with money for decades. The Cubans are still literally killing themselves to get to the States

Actually, the Cubans I encountered on my "school exchange" trip were nice, very well educated, easy on the eyes (lol) and had no problems discussing their concerns about American and Cuban issues. We ran into folks on guided tours, and could move freely about any part of Havana.

The truth is the US is pretty much the last country to have access to Cuba. The Euros, Canadians, Asians and Latinos have been doing it for decades.

I think there will be a major boom in tourism for the first few years, as there's so much pent-up interest in visiting. After that, we'll see.

I very much liked visiting Cuba, and it's great that we'll all soon be able to return.

 

[AZB]

I think the tourists who have been to other vacation destinations (DR, colombia, cancun etc) will go to cuba once and may never return again.
I was making plans to visit cuba (legally) and did all sorts of research, even spent hours talking to cuban people who live below my apartment and visit cuba frequently.
After doing all my research, I quickly changed my mind and went to medellin, colombia instead. I spent a few days in medellin and 2 days in pereira and other surrounding towns and national parks.
I think colombia just blows cuba out of the waters in terms of infrastructure and ease of travel and all. I had my t-mobile free data plan working as soon as I landed. The next day I had a local sim card.
I rented an apartment in a nice area which cost me only 32 dollars / night on airbnb.com. If I post photos, you guys will not believe what this little money can get you in colombia. with the pesos depreciation, colombia is super cheap for us now.
the food is excellent quality and the women are just out of this world, if this is your game.
I doubt if cuba will be any threat to any caribbean island in the near future. I don't think i will be going to cuba any time soon. I may change my mind and end up there for a week, but I don't have any good expectations in terms of value for my dollars.
I may just go there for the heck of it but I doubt cuba is as good as DR.
AZB

 

[frank recktenwald]

If you don't know the difference from living under a dictator to living free in a democratic society then you will never get my point. Just because you went to Cuba and smoked some cigars and stayed at a low rent all inclusive tacky resort and spoke with government puppets hardly makes you informed. I live in the D.R , Cuba will not have the freedom we have here in my lifetime.

Never stayed in a resort, stayed in Havana Vieja and spoke to everyone I could. Even with the lack of freedom Cuba is way above the DR. They have education, culture and hardly any discrimination and you try to compare that with the DR, you're funny.

 

[PICHARDO]

Actually, the Cubans I encountered on my "school exchange" trip were nice, very well educated, easy on the eyes (lol) and had no problems discussing their concerns about American and Cuban issues. We ran into folks on guided tours, and could move freely about any part of Havana.

The truth is the US is pretty much the last country to have access to Cuba. The Euros, Canadians, Asians and Latinos have been doing it for decades.

I think there will be a major boom in tourism for the first few years, as there's so much pent-up interest in visiting. After that, we'll see.

I very much liked visiting Cuba, and it's great that we'll all soon be able to return.

Ah!
So you finally grasped the gist of the matter!

Cuba was OPEN to the world always! For all the same tourists the DR was, but for the Americans (even when many just used third countries to visit anyhow).

Cuba was big during Batista due to the Casinos in the island. Many carried out by the Italian Mafia as payback for their assistance to the U.S. during WWII against the German Army and the Mussolini regime.

Cuba will be a plus for the Caribbean tourism industry, not a negative for the DR.

Again, you grasp the matter others fail to see with ease.

Apart from that, infrastructure as is in Cuba will not allow it to do much for the time being. Maybe later.

But this thread here will be the "told you so" for a many that are still missing the big picture for years to come.

(Just like the DR debate on the economy is doing).

One thing for sure, is that movies and TV will be a big hit in Cuba for the industry at large.

 

[Derfish]

This is one of the more ridiculous posts. Cubans are smart ... Very smart. And somehow your post sound fishy..fish.
Look at your fellow Dominicans And answer the original post

How many Cubans have you ever known? And where?