From 2015, and probably much further back, until 2019, more than 90% of tourists who came to the Dominican Republic preferred hotel establishments to stay. However, in the last three years, that trend has changed.

Between 2015 and 2019, without interruption, almost all non-resident foreigners in the country stayed in hotels, but as of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began to affect the national territory, the number began to decline.

In 2020, 83.08% of tourists used hotel establishments as their accommodation option; in 2021, 71.5% and in January of 2022, 72.0%, according to the reports of the tourist flow of the Central Bank.

These numbers show that hotel accommodation is showing a downward trend, which could be related to the economic effects of the pandemic or the rise of digital accommodation platforms such as Airbnb, which offer multiple options to stay at different prices.

Services

Most foreign tourists who visit the Dominican Republic are satisfied with the services they receive in hotels; about 70% rated them as excellent or very good in 2020, according to the “Survey of opinion, attitude, and motivation to non-resident foreigners” of the Central Bank.

The majority (about 68%) were also satisfied with hotel facilities and prices. This means that changes in travelers’ preferences are not due to dissatisfaction with hotels, most of which are characterized as offering all-inclusive (food, drinks, beds, entertainment, etc.).