The Association of Small and Medium Sized Hotels of Santo Domingo alerted that if the dollar continues its present trend they would have to increase their rates. Mario Torroni, the vice-president of the association, says that it is difficult for them to tell a tourist who paid US$30 last year that they must now fork over US$50 for the same services. He said that the situation is made worse by the larger hotels that sell their rooms for US$70, a fact he says is forcing them out of business. “Nobody would hesitate about adding on US$20 more and staying at a larger hotel with other facilities, instead of paying US$50 at a small one,” he said, as reported in El Caribe. Torroni said that his members have had to confront increasingly more expensive energy bills, plus the increases in the cost of labor.
“We are not asking for an expensive dollar. What we want is, if [the exchange] is going to be at a rate of RD$27 to US$1, then all other costs should reflect that cost,” he said.
The association groups 42 of nearly 100 hotels operating in the city with 75 rooms or fewer.