Economy March 6, 2022 | 11:34 am

Buy car in DR

Hotel accommodation has fallen in recent years in the country; from 92% to 72%

Santo Domingo, DR

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.).

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Felix Arroyo
March 6, 2022 4:17 pm

Ignoring COVID effect, the lack of repeat business could be mistreatment of tourists, competition from other tourist attraction places, and perhaps, tourist are seeking new experiences. This economic sector is very variable and very susceptible to global issues. Perhaps, the tourist authority have a plan for this (they had plenty time to think of one).

Margaret Kernan
March 6, 2022 10:05 pm

The DR is a beautiful island to visit, with the mountains, ocean and beaches. How-ever, the beach peddlers and time share sellers are relentless! It is impossible to walk a beach, and converse with your travelmate, due to the constant interruptions. Two visits were enough for me. I prefer to walk in peace, without the harassment.

Vicksanity2345@gmail.comvictor
March 7, 2022 9:35 am

Lol..is a crazy place..people are constantly looking to hustle you..due to how poor they are..is also VERY DANGEROUS…

Mike
March 7, 2022 10:39 am

It’s not very dangerous. One of the reasons a smaller percentage of people are staying in hotels is because you can get an Airbnb, and be perfectly safe.
Also less people trying to sell things, most of these people are concentrated by resorts.

Alex
March 7, 2022 9:59 am

Was lovely when I went a couple of years ago. We stayed in a hotel at an all inclusive place, which we chose mostly for the relaxed holiday experience. We went on a couple of day trips and they were great, but mostly our holiday was just about chilling out, which I think is easier at an all-inclusive place.

john
March 7, 2022 6:45 pm

Dominican Republic is much more than a 5-star hotel(the starts are for decoration) people want to see and enjoy the real Dominicans, enjoy the hospitality, go and discover so many paradise places, the hotel offers the same thing every day, hard-working people, for little money and tour operators who just sell the tours where they get 50% profit from, they don’t care about the quality only quantity