Enrique Eduardo de Marchena, president of the National Association of Hotels & Restaurants has said that the DR has benefited from the seasonal cancellations hotels in Mexico have suffered following the devastation caused by Hurricane Wilma. The hurricane affected the major tourism destinations of Cancun and Riviera Maya, and tourists have had to be relocated. Many are choosing the Dominican Republic. De Marchena told Clave Digital that at least 5,000-6,000 tourists were placed at hotel destinations in the east and northern regions of the country. He forecast that Cancun and Riviera Maya would not be fully operational until January or February 2006, which gives Caribbean hotels the opportunity to benefit from 80,000 additional room nights this winter season. He said that regardless of how unfortunate Wilma has been, it has been a window of opportunity for the Dominican tourism sector. Nevertheless, he said that destinations throughout the Caribbean will be competing to attract the Mexico-bound sun-seeking tourist and that Dominicans needed to do their homework. He said that the unexpected influx of tourists came as a godsend to the north coast, where hotel occupancy increased overnight from 60 to 80%. “We have to reverse the trend in Dominican tourism for loss of competitiveness and profitability and use this opportunity caused by the unfortunate events in the Mexican Caribbean that breathes new air into the DR tourist industry,” he highlighted. He said that before the hurricane, there were expectations that tourism would fall by 17% this year, which could have generated a 12% increase in unemployment in the sector.