President of ASONAHORES: 2015 Will Close With a Growth Rate of Over 9% in Tourist Arrivals

President of ASONAHORES: 2015 Will Close With a Growth Rate of Over 9% in Tourist Arrivals
Santo Domingo, October 21 2015

2015 will come to a close with a growth rate of between 9.5 and 10 percent of tourist arrivals in the Dominican Republic, which will double the projected figures for the rest of the Caribbean, according to Simón Suárez, President of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (ASONAHORES).

Suárez said that this growth is the equivalent to the total arrival of between 5.1 and 5.2 million travelers, as a result of the behavior of the flow of arrivals during the first 9 months of the year, with September registering an annual increase of 17% compared to 2014. Suárez made the prediction at an interview during the Uno+Uno program, produced by Juan Bolívar Díaz, and said that hotels in the various tourist destinations are “sold out” for the holiday season of Christmas and New Year.

Markets

He stated that the United States is a growing market, noting that “right now we have approximately 39% of American tourists, but the region as a whole accounts for 46%.”

Regarding Canada, he said that it is a good market, but it is stable because it has a 6% development rate, while the United States market has a 14% growth rate.

He explained the fact that, among the passengers from North America, non-resident Dominicans are included because they have consumption patterns equal to the conventional tourist. He added that this tourist is mostly second and third generation Dominican who often stays in a family home, but they go out to restaurants and take their families to resorts.

He said that the Russian market was a temporary phenomenon and noted that its collapse started last year due to the political and economic situation of that country. “That has been offset by Great Britain, Spain and Germany,” said Suárez, who reported a greater expansion from Spain, with 12%, and Great Britain, with about 9% growth.

Puerto Plata

The President of ASONAHORES stressed the tourist boom that Puerto Plata is experiencing with its new cruise port. Currently -he said- two ships arrive to the port weekly, but with increasing frequency each month. “More (cruises) are scheduled, but let’s not forget that ports do not begin operating at full capacity.”

He stressed that what contributed to the recovery of Puerto Plata was the integration of all Puerto Plata residents, including the unions of drivers, police, and city hall, among others.

In contrast, he said, the opposite happens in the community of Samaná because it does not take the cruise segment seriously: “It has basically done what Puerto Plata did 30 years ago, which is to harass the cruise operations in such a way that today we are below, at a 65 and 68% rate.”

Suárez urged the city of Santo Domingo to direct its focus to convention, exhibition, and business tourism, “because of the investment made in that area in recent years.”

He highlighted the recent hotel expansion in the Dominican capital with the addition of new hotels north of the 27 de Febrero Avenue, including the JW Marriot, Holiday Inn, and Embassy Suites, the construction of the Intercontinental Hotel, and the renovations of all accommodations located on George Washington Avenue.