Dominican Republic. Picture: David Mark en Pixabay

In mid-August, the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) arranged for hotels to open 100% of their rooms, and currently, 87.5% of hotels have opened their doors.

According to Mitur statistics, the Dominican Republic hotel’s occupancy rate continued to grow in August 2021 compared to July.

In August, the hotel occupancy rate in the country was 64.80%, only 0.40 higher than the 64.40% of July 2021.

While the Occupancy Rate January-August 2021 was 50.60%. For the same period of 2020, the hotel occupancy rate in the country in January-August was 30.4%, as published by the Central Bank on its website. Data was provided from the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores).

In the first eight months of 2021, Romana-Bayahibe was the area that registered the highest occupancy rate (57.80%), followed by Boca Chica-Juan Dolio (53.50%) and Santo Domingo (52.0%).

Meanwhile, Bávaro-Punta Cana had an occupation of 51.70%, Santiago 50.10%, Samaná 46.50%, Puerto Plata 45.40%, Sosúa-Cabarete 43.20%.

For the same period, but from the last pre-pandemic year of 2019, the average hotel occupancy rate January-August 2019 in DR was an average of 74.1%, equivalent to 6.4% less than in the same period of the year 2018 that registered an average hotel occupancy rate of 79.1%”, according to the monthly report of the tourist association Asonahores.

This decline was caused by the reputational crisis unleashed in the United States from May, by sensationalized and hyperbolized reports of natural deaths that year.

It should be noted that Mitur ordered those hotels open at 100% of their capacity but maintaining social distancing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 on August 16.

In resolution DJ-022/2021, Mitur established a 90% vehicle capacity for transporting employees and tourists and the occupation in excursions, maritime transport, and water activities at 85%, a measure that could be modified according to the evolution of the Covid-19 situation.

The resolution maintains as mandatory the use of masks within public and private enclosed spaces for public use. In addition, establishments must ensure that social distancing is maintained between people who are inside them.

Dominican Today