mountainannie,
You're enthusiasm and passion for your chosen city is obvious and admirable and my intent was not to denigrate Sto. Dgo. in any way, shape or form.
In listing off an impressive array of attractions and activities you do your city and your knowledge of it, proud and I am truly salivating at the future opportunities which I have yet to fully experience...
BUT
all the enthusiasm and passion in the world can't change the tourism facts.
Fully one half of all tourist airplane landings for the ENTIRE COUNTRY are in the sleepy little airport at Punta Cana (54.7%), a fictitious, made up collection of impressive, albeit gargantuan, all-inclusive resorts which act as a beacon to the millions and millions of annual tourists arriving in the DR. For crying out loud, Punta Cana isn't even a real town, just a loose collection of businesses which have sprung up to service tourism, over-priced gaudy vacation condos and villas with their pasty white owners, cheap and tawdry trinket vendors and a labour work force which is either relegated to a poor squatter's barrio, housed is crowded employee stables or is still bussed in from Higuey almost an hour away; due to the unaffordability of the area for residential purposes. The airport isn't even a government run entity having been ceded to Grupo Punta Cana either by a government of the day which was duped or ignorant about the future importance of airports or by good business acumen on the part of GPC.
But irrespective of all of these shortcomings this is where the majority of tourists flock in their millions...
Santo Domingo for all of it's appeal to you (and I am not trying to downplay this) comes in second in tourist landings at a less than impressive (19.3%) including who knows how many business men traveling on Tourist Cards and tourists actually destined for other locations, Boca Chica, Juan Dolio, Bayahibe, La Romana and some to even Punta Cana and Puerto Plata. Puerto Plata, the aging matron of the DR tourism scene, arrives at a geriatric (15.8%) of arrivals which while shrinking perceptibly over the years still rivals the capacity of La Capital. La Romana pulls up the reported rear at a modest (5.5%) of tourist arrivals. The newest jewel in the DR tourism crown, Samana's El Catey as well as Santiago and Baharona do not even rank a place on the list of tourist arrivals by airport; at least those reported at the
Punta Cana & Dominican Republic Real Estate website.
A rudimentary analysis of the chosen destinations and my own first hand experience both conclude that the number one aspect of a DR vacation cherished by it's tourists - is the BEACH. Like it or not without a beach tourists would generally take a miss and as we all know Sto. Dgo. has NO BEACH.
As said before you do your city of choice proud but what you have generally listed (with some admitted exceptions) are generally considered to be big city conveniences and amenities, not tourist draws. Most people do not travel to experience more large, congested, bustling cities but to relax away from just this environ.
So for me, you have thrown down the gauntlet and I will try Sto. Dgo. as a travel but not necessarily a tourism destination, at my first real opportunity, but I may have to leave my beach loving wife at home because without sand in her toes, things could get ugly - LOL
Thank you again for your insightful posting.
Gregg
Santo Domingo - tourist destination?
I rise in defense of my chosen City
