Economic analyst, Nassim José Alemany, of Deloitte in the Dominican Republic says hotels are enjoying the best overall occupancy rate in 15 years. Alemany reports that as of July 2017, average occupancy for the past 12 months was 80%. He explains hotel occupancy in general has shown sustained growth since 2010.
By tourism destinations within the country, Punta Cana is the leader in occupancy with 85%, followed by La Romana and Bayahibe with 84%. The east of the country benefited from the global economic recovery after the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
He reports that destinations in Puerto Plata and Sosúa, that posted record occupancy lows in 2010, have not yet recovered fully, but have showed important increases in the past three years.
Occupancy in Samaná, that had shown important hotel occupancy growth from 2010 to 2015, has declined from a peak at almost 80% to 68%.
In the analysis, Alemany points out that many young people that are visiting slip through the official occupancy statistics as these stay in alternate lodging, using online booking platforms such as AirBnB, Tripping, FlipKey, VRBO among others. He said around 25,000 properties in the Dominican Republic are listed on these booking platforms, with occupancy rates ranging from 30 to 40%. He says foreigners and Dominicans for domestic travel are increasingly using these platforms.
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Deloitte
19 September 2017
