Tourism analyst Juan Llado mentions that the impact of the expansion of accommodations in the Dominican Republic via Airbnb is greatly in the spillover effect in the local community that is greater than in the case of foreign investment and foreign-operated properties. Airbnb turns apartment and home units into hotel accommodations and these generate local buys and the funds go to bank accounts of local people.
In his article on the subject for Acento.com, he estimates there are more than 125,000 Airbnb rooms in the market in the Dominican Republic, located all around the country. This is more than the 90,000 hotel room statistics usually mentioned by the government.
Nevertheless, Llado warns that the overexpansion of the services could cause negative impacts as has occurred in Spain, where these have been banned in many areas.
Llado estimates that 25% of the total tourist arrivals are staying at Airbnbs in Santo Domingo, Punta Cana, Santiago, Puerto Plata and Cabarete. He adds that two of three Dominican expats who vacation here will stay at an Airbnb.
As reported, the Ministry of Tourism and the National Hotel & Tourism Association are working on reaching a consensus to tax the short-term rentals. Llado favors lower taxes on Airbnb rentals on grounds that these have a greater beneficial impact on the local economy.
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Acento
27 May 205