The hotel industry continued its upward climb during the month of April with occupancy up 12.6% over last year, even though the rate was down 7.1% from March. April is the traditional end of the high season that begins in December. The summer season, which begins this month, generally shows a decline in the number of tourists, but is often counterbalanced by very attractive prices. According to the National Hotel and Restaurant Association (Asonahores), 33,610 rooms were surveyed across the country. The results show a 15.4% increase over the first four months of 2002. In 2003, only Santo Domingo showed a net decrease for the same period (5.8%), while the other regions of the country all showed net increases over 2002. The largest increase can be seen in the Saman? region, where tourism grew 52.4%, followed by the Punta Cana/B?varo region with a 19.5% increase. Other regions with double-digit increases over 2002 are Boca Chica/Juan Dolio(16.1%), Sos?a/Cabarete (15%), and La Romana/Bayahibe (10.5%).