Finding villas and apartments for this Holy Week has become an odyssey for many domestic tourists, who have decided to travel at the last minute to the interior of the Dominican Republic.
This is confirmed by authorities and real estate agents in different tourist destinations.
Villas are 100% booked in the North and East of the country.
The same happens with the hotels, which have an occupancy of 50.5%, which is equivalent to almost 70% of the available rooms. It is recalled that due to sanitary measures, occupancy is only allowed up to 60% of capacity. This is the highest occupancy after the sanitary crisis imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the case of Samaná and Cabrera, a large number of the villas have been reserved since November of last year and are fully occupied. The demand for villas and residences is so high in the Cabrera area that families have decided to spend Holy Week at the homes of relatives in order to rent theirs and thus generate extra income, indicated Elvyn Arnaud, Real Estate consultant of KW/Premium.
In Samaná, real estate tourism has had a great rebound, saving the sector after the closing of all-inclusive hotels and the drop in international tourism, said Senator Pedro Catrain.
He explained that the search for a second residence by foreigners who now work remotely has flourished.
“The projects of apartments, villas, ecolodges, and boutique hotels are maintained with a high occupancy applying the safety and health protocols recommended by the health and tourism authorities, said the legislator,” added the official.
Stephany Khoury, in charge of tourism in the northern zone from Cabarete to Puerto Plata, explained that the destination has 100% of the villas and residences fully rented.
She pointed out that they have reserved more than 50% of the available rooms and said that they operate with a capacity of more than 80%.
According to estimates by the Dominican Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores), hotel occupancy for this Easter Week will be around 50.5% of the operational rooms, according to El Día.
Regarding the East zone, Ernesto Veloz, president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism Projects of the East (Asoleste), said that “the boom in real estate tourism presents the need for regulation of this sector, since several people are engaged in the rental of residences without any guarantee and security for tourists, which becomes an unfair competition for entrepreneurs in the hotel sector, which are regulated and invest in security for tourists”.
He also indicated that the occupancy rate exceeds 60 to 70 % and it is expected to continue advancing gradually until the total recovery of the tourist industry.
