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BiggerHoteliers: “It is not understood why a flight from the U.S. to the Dominican Republic costs twice as much”.
Santo Domingo.- The high cost of airline tickets is one of the biggest obstacles faced by the Dominican Republic in attracting tourists, according to the country’s hoteliers and the government.
Hoteliers consulted by arecoa.com regarding this worrying situation for the tourism industry indicated that “it is not understood why an air ticket between the United States and the DR costs twice as much as flying to any other destination in the region.”
They argued that no matter what class is chosen, tourist, business, or economy, they are all equally expensive.
“If we talk about Europe, one could mention as justification the issue of distance, fuel… but from the United States it is nonsense that flying costs so much,” they said.
On different occasions, the head of Mitur, David Collado, has also expressed his concern about the high cost of traveling from the United States to the DR, explaining at the time how the country loses competitiveness against other tourist markets because the price of flights for U.S. visitors is so high.
Mexico is one of the markets that take advantage of the expensive airline tickets, being for many U.S. travelers a more accessible option. However, these tourists end up spending the same in the Aztec country as in the DR; the truth is that the airline ticket is a big obstacle and a titanic challenge to overcome.
Opportunity ?
It may be a matter of loyalty programs between resorts and airlines. If an airline partners with a resort the airfares may be cheaper. It could be also suggested a majority of resorts in the RD are owned by Spanish concerns. Thus, the airfares between Europe and the RD are competitive. The US market could be just as competitive. However, economics and politics comprise a chess game of fare setting for the US market routes. The US airlines could be waiting for more routes to open up if the RD and US gov’ts can get to an accord with US Customs and Border Protection Preclearance in the RD to go forward before fares are reduced.
the mayority of rooms in DR are owned by american companies ,not spanish, that used to be be case years ago but not today.
Let’s say it is 50/50 for now. The Europeans traveling to the RD on a European based airline have better fares per air mile.
A return ticket between SDQ and JFK is $307 and then the taxes from the US Government and airport and the DR government and airport are included and the price goes out to $ 536 .That is the reason the ticket prices are high . That is on a booking made today for flights in November.
How on earth could my comment giving prices direct from American Airlines web page have to await approval .
Remain calm, the approval waits come at random. It often happens when proper names, officials, or institutions actions are mentioned within comments.
Waiting for approval happens to the poster at times.
Biden shut down our energy business and gave it to Russia Saudi and Iran. Empowering them and enriching them.
I mean, clearly, the prices are not affecting air travel to the DR, people are more than willing to pay for those flights. More than 5 million Americans visit the DR every year and that number is steadily growing.. so why is this a concern?
The concern is some fares are pricing out many potential tourists, especially family groups, who would want to enjoy the country but cannot afford the fares as they exist now.
That’s fair.
My round trip ticket from Orlando to Puerto Rico includes US$8.60 in San Juan Airport and local government fees. From Orlando to Santo Domingo it is US$104.86. That’s 62% of my airline cost is Dominican Republic airport and government junk fees and taxes. It’s greed. I used to travel to DR 2-3 times a year, not any more. Mexico, Colombia and Puerto Rico don’t spit on my face with a scam.