Frank Rainieri, president of the Grupo Punta Cana, attributed the lull in hotel occupancy to the fast pace of construction of new hotel rooms in the DR. Other factors that are affecting hotel occupancy are the fuel price hikes and their effects on airline fares, the devaluation of the Euro, and the changes in market mix of hotel guests staying at Dominican hotels. In an interview with the Listín Diario he explained that the rooms supply in the area increased 15% last year. There are more than 17,000 hotel rooms in Punta Cana. The area is slated to offer 30,000 rooms by 2010. At present there are more than 50,000 hotel rooms in the DR. The mix of tourists to the DR has changed. He said that in the specific case of Punta Cana, the market mix was 80% Europeans that would stay on average 15 days. Today, there is a significant increase in US travelers, which usually do not stay more than a week. He said that Punta Cana received 4,600 US travelers in 1996; 6,800 in 1997; 28,000 in 1998; 65,000 in 1999; and the outlook is for 125,000 for 2000 and that for 2001 is 200,000 US travelers. Central Bank statistics show that the following breakdown of travel to the DR: Punta Cana 35.5% Puerto Plata 31% Santo Domingo 30% La Romana and Santiago 2.5% Rainieri urged that the government build a four-lane highway from Punta Cana International Airport to the northern new tourism areas of Macao and Higuero Alto tourist areas. Three hotels are going up in Higuero Alto, including one 400-room hotel that will open this winter. (26 September 2000)
