Tourism in the Americas 2018

[klmrocks]

Originally Posted by Pueblofuerte

Instead of driving prices up it will drive prices down as more demand means lower fares. Just look at how cheap travel is in Europe. This is precisely due to demand and efficient supply. However, as mentioned already the hurricanes shouldn't really affect the major destinations (DR, Cuba, etc.). It may affect the smaller high-end islands but these tourist figures are smallish and can be easily absorbed by other destinations without affecting market price.

We will see ....

Regardless if I actually had to pick from the Americas right now I would aim for Belieze, Honduras or Nicagragua because they are less common.

Belieze would be at the top of the list because if you give me 2 tastes of Sounth America ... and I have already been to Centra America twice. Belieze run up my radar as after reading some recent threads and realizing I dont know anything about there. I technically have family there....though no way in hell interested in visitng. My father's family use to do business there and let just say some of my uncles did a lot more then "work" when they were there .

[whogoesthere]

Originally Posted by klmrocks

Didn't south Flordia also get hit bad!
I have been to the keys and it is amazing ... but holly cow I can not even imagine how scary it would be during a hurricane.

South Florida meaning Miami not the Keys...PR, VI and St Martin were the major tourist destinations hit. Dominica and Barbuda were devastated but neither is a big tourist destination. Certain parts of Cuba were hit hard but other parts were fine on that large island. You gotta factor in the type of crowd that would have visited those islands. Somebody who had a trip planned for St Martin is probably not thinking of Nicaragua. The other Caribbean islands and maybe South Florida will get the spillover.

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by klmrocks

True. I actually know people at work that were going to Cuba or DR in the next few months and decided to cancel their plans. Not sure if they just assumed there were going to be problems or just decided to go somewhere else instead.

Many people got confused when in the media they covered the disastrous situation in Dominica, which is a small island in the Lesser Antilles that’s part of the English Caribbean. That island was destroyed by Maria, but Dominican Republic was not.

The only connection between DR and Dominica is that the DR government allowed quite a few Dominica people to be interned at DR hospitals, with the DR government picking up the full tab of their hospital bills and also the cost of transporting them from the Lesser Antilles to Santo Domingo. The country also waved the passport requirements for them. Other than that, one island has nothing to do with the other; but, the similarity in the names causes confusion among some people.

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by Pueblofuerte

Instead of driving prices up it will drive prices down as more demand means lower fares. Just look at how cheap travel is in Europe. This is precisely due to demand and efficient supply. However, as mentioned already the hurricanes shouldn't really affect the major destinations (DR, Cuba, etc.). It may affect the smaller high-end islands but these tourist figures are smallish and can be easily absorbed by other destinations without affecting market price.

I don’t think so. There are only so many possible flights and a fixed number of hotel rooms. An increase in demand with a stable supply can only increase prices.

Right now the leading country in both categories is Dominican Republic. The DR also has the most flights to/from Europe of any Latin American country and one of the highest number of flights to/from the US and Canada. It has the busiest airspace in the Caribbean and the largest number of hotel rooms

Cuba comes in second place as far as the number of hotel rooms, but their capacity to handle a large influx of flights is limited.

Then comes Jamaica, but its hotel rooms is considerably less than in the DR and Cuba. With just 2 international airports of medium to small size, their air capacity is also limited.

The smaller islands are much more limited.

Cancun is really the only destination that has the capacity to give the DR and Cuba a run for their tourist money. It has comparable numbers of hotek rooms and an airport capable of handling large numbers of flight. The only thing that hinders Cancun is the overwhelming dependence on the USA and Canada. Most of their flights are to/from those two countries, and the majority of their hotels are designed with America tastes and sensitivities in mind.

Cuba depends much more heavily on European tourists, while the DR is more or less evenly split between North American and European tourists. Believe me, when you stay in a DR resort that caters mostly to Americans vs one that caters mostly to Europeans (usually these hotels are side by side) it’s noticeable. The difference isn’t just in the languages of the visitors, but also on many other details. For example, hotels that cater mostly to Europeans have more open air restaurants and offer wine as part of their basic meals, while those that caters to Americans are heavily air conditioned and offer beer more often than wine. In the American geared resorts almost all women sunbathe with a swimsuit, in the European geared ones you will see many young women sunbathing topless. Its little details like that that makes a big difference in the ambience of a resort.

[Pueblofuerte]

Originally Posted by AntonioR

I don’t think so. There are only so many possible flights and a fixed number of hotel rooms. An increase in demand with a stable supply can only increase prices.

The Dominican Republic grows year on year in tourist arrivals and new hotel rooms are made available all the time to cater to this. In 2016 hotel occupancy rates were in the high 70's% percentiles despite reaching the 6 million visitor arrivals for the first time ever. There is always room at the inn. https://globenewswire.com/news-relea...tatistics.html

Therefore supply is always increasing to match growth. New markets are also growing; countries like Russia and Colombia with new routes to the DR mean that these countries are increasing their share of tourist arrivals to the DR also. Seasonal Charter flight companies from Europe if need be will add more flights to meet demand - these numbers are being absorbed because the DR is catering to demand. Prices are dropping as opposed to rising for Caribbean destinations from across the world. The Canada situation is an odd one as flights are just expensive there (domestic and international) for no justifiable reason.

[Pueblofuerte]

Another case in point is Colombia, it's doubled its tourism figures in 5 years from 2.6 million to over 5 million today and has increased a 1,000% since the early 2000's. This increase in demand has caused flight prices to plummet both internationally and domestically in both directions. Colombia is now competing with the UK for 3rd place in tourist arrivals to Mexico, 1st place with Brazil in tourist arrivals to Florida from South America and has superseded countries like Italy, BeNeLux countries and all of Scandinavia put together in tourist arrivals to Dominican Republic.