Biggest tourist destination in DR . . .

[SamGompers]

Can somebody point me to information on the biggest tourist destinations in the DR? Specifically: number of visitors, nationality, etc.

I am thinking about starting a small business but can't seem to find good current info necessary to think about locations.

Personally, I like the North Coast . . .but I'll go where there's more tourist money.

Thanks.

[jcarn]

There's this resort or town called 'the dominican'. Nobody here knows where it is but thousands of people claim that they've stayed in there and had a good time.

(it's a joke )

[KateP]

Although I can't give you any numbers, you might want to look into Punta Cana/Bavaro. There's a lot of construction going on and lots of people living there now. From what I've seen, almost any business can make quite a bit of money over there since there isn't a very big choice of anything yet. Look into it, you might get lucky...

[planner]

Hi there, the information you are looking for is available. I am not sure how reliable, accurate or timely it is. There have been several posts and threads in this nature on this website. Do a search and see what you find. I will PM you a couple of things when I find them.

Also, what you are looking for will depend on what kind of business you want to set up. Here is what I mean:

In Punta Cana you get higher end tourists. They tend to spend more money on their holiday and the excursions tend to cost more. I don't know off hand how many excursions they buy on average! the competition for excursions is high. I'm not sure what kind of souvenirs they buy but I guarantee they cost more there then in other locations.

In the Puerto Plata / north shore, we get more of the averge tourists! They don't spend quite so much money on their packages and excursions don't target the higher end consumers. They tend to be a little less expensive as are the souvenirs etc.

While you may want to look at the numbers of tourists you need to also look at what you will offer, to who and why. Where do you fit in? What are you thinking of doing?

Going where there is more tourist money isn't necessarily the answer. Going where there is the most demand for what you offer might make more sense. Going where there is no or little competition might make more sense. Going where the future growth is might make more sense....

I hope that helped!

[FireGuy]

Greetings from Atlantic Canada.

Originally Posted by SamGompers

Can somebody point me to information on the biggest tourist destinations in the DR? Specifically: number of visitors, nationality, etc.

I am thinking about starting a small business but can't seem to find good current info necessary to think about locations.

Personally, I like the North Coast . . .but I'll go where there's more tourist money.

Thanks.

From DR1 Travel News January 13, 2004

Where the tourists are from (first 11 months of 2003)

"Central Bank statistics for the first 11 months of the year reaffirm the new prevalence of the US traveler, as well as significant increases in European travel to the Dominican Republic.
United States - 783,405 (31.5% market), up 23.2%
Canada - 363,149 (14.6% market), up 35.3%
France - 286,637 (11.5% market), up 32.9%
Germany - 222,454 (8.9% market), up 1.1%
Spain - 186,460 (7.5% market), up 51.5%
United Kingdom - 157,100 (6.3% market), up 16.5%
Italy - 121,392 (4.9% market), up 21.4%"



From DR1 Travel News May 18, 2004

Where in the DR the tourists are going.

"Punta Cana continues to lead in arrivals
Punta Cana continues to be the leading tourist destination in the Dominican Republic, with 47% of all air arrivals landing at that terminal. Next was Puerto Plata, which was port of entry for 24% of foreign air arrivals. Traffic to Puerto Plata was up 29% for the period. Las Americas (Santo Domingo) followed with 17%, and the Cibao (Santiago) and Herrera international in Santo Domingo made up for the remaining 2.1% arrivals.
For the January-April 2004 period, some 517,632 arrivals, mostly foreign tourists, arrived at the Punta Cana International Airport. Puerto Plata received 269,652 foreign passengers, Las Americas 192,253 and La Romana 101,559."

As planner said, depending on your idea(s) the raw numbers may not tell the whole tale; the demographics may be just as or more important.

I suggest you subscribe (it's free) to DR1 Travel News. Lots of good info.

FYI the archive is at www.dr1.com/travelnews/archive.shtml

Good luck in your endevour(s).

Gregg

[planner]

You just saved me the time of going looking for exactly that information Gregg!!!

[SamGompers]

Thanks. I appreciate the help. Yes. Punta Cana is the quantitative winner but you're right . . . .it's not so much the kind of tourists as the kind of tourism. The business I'm thinking of won't work if everyone stays inside their AI resorts. There probably just isn't enough common and commonly traveled space "in" Punta Cana.

Puerto Plata makes more sense . . because the tourists on the north coast probably tend to travel off-resort more often. And PP has its own draws - - amber museum, etc. and PP seems to be trying to draw tourists to PP not just to one AI or another.

I'll be down in December or January to investigate the next steps.

More questions later . .thanks so much for the help so far . . .

[mountainannie]

You might also check out the Samana Peninsula - if you have long range plans. The Europeans are building a first rate destination here- recreating St. Tropez, as I understand it, - only two small A-1 resorts, but many high-end shops in town, and many more for sale within walking distance from the beach. However, in order to do business here, it would seem essential that you have at least English, Spanish and French.

annie

[casi84]

Originally Posted by SamGompers

Can somebody point me to information on the biggest tourist destinations in the DR? Specifically: number of visitors, nationality, etc.

I am thinking about starting a small business but can't seem to find good current info necessary to think about locations.

Personally, I like the North Coast . . .but I'll go where there's more tourist money.

Thanks.

I live in puerto plata and i must say i think the jeep safaris are wuiote popular but if i were opening a business i would build an internet cafe for tourists, maybe even look into opening a tim hortons franchise, i always hear tourists saying how much theyd kill for a tim hortons coffee... In the playa dorada plaza they have an internet place and its 1.50 american for a half hour and people pay that and more, sometimes go on for hours at a time. I think its a good business.

[carina]

Hi, I am not sure I agree with you about internet cafes.
I dont have the numbers to back up my opinion, but if you look into the Plaza in Playa Dordada, 1) they have raised their prices 2) They have lowered the number of computers 3) Half of their space is rented out to tatoos and Cds etc.
That to me does not sound like the internet part is sparkling.
Many of the hotels also offers internetservice to their clients on the properties. I have not been at all the hotels, I know Gran Ventana does. Yesterday I was at Hilton visiting friends, they had a bunch of laptops online for any guest to use in the entrance area..

In the city of Puerto Plata there are several internet cafes. Caribe Tours Plaza, Compuclub, Dotcom, Farmacia Virgina etc etc. They all charge 20-30 pesos per 30 min. A rrint copy is around 5-8, to burn a cd is around 30-50 and if you bring your own cd its around 10 pesos. You need alots of guests to make a good business out of this moneywise!