In spite of entering the so-called ?low season?, hotel occupancy is still over 16% more than last year. Saman? and Puerto Plata are showing significant recovery for 2003, while Santo Domingo continues in a slump. Hotel occupancy grew by 21.3% in May of this year over May of 2002, going from 50.7% previously to 61.5% this year. This improvement has been maintained for the first five months of the year, according to statistics from the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores).
While Santo Domingo showed a negative growth for the period, most of the other regions showed double-digit improvements over 2002. Puerto Plata showed an 8.5% increase over 2002; Saman? led all areas with a 51% growth over last year (from 40.5% occupancy to 61.4%); and Sos?a and Cabarete weighed in with a combined 41% growth. Asonahores considered the growth of the Puerto Plata region, which includes Playa Dorada, Cofres? and Costa Dorada, to be ?noteworthy?.
Even with overall occupancy having fallen during April and May, things are considered to be normal, as April is the tail end of the ?high? season and May is the beginning of the ?low? season. Despite the falloff, overall occupancy continues to be more than 10% higher than last year.