On occasion of its Annual Trade Show and Exhibition held last weekend in Santo Domingo, the Hotel & Restaurant Association (Asonahores) released its 2000 Statistical Bulletin. It shows that 2,972,000 travellers visited the DR in 2000. Ramon Prieto, president of Asonahores, said that US travel to the DR was up 25.9% from 1999, European travel up 7.9%, South American travel up 12.%, Central American up 56.3% and Caribbean up 4.5%. Prieto said the government and businessmen should stop investing in new hotel rooms in order to let demand catch up with supply. He said hoteliers need to concentrate on getting better rates. He said the present 51,916 hotel rooms are sufficient to meet demand. Last year 2,293 new hotel rooms were added.
In 2000, 97% of travellers used the Las Americas, Punta Cana and Puerto Plata airports. Air arrivals were up 14.5%. Of the total, 94% travelled for leisure, 2.1% for business and 2% to visit family and friends. (3 September 2001)
