Dominican North Coast 2010 update

posted on: Dec 31 2010 9:20 by The Reporter. Viewed 1093 times.


No country has avoided the fallout from the worldwide economic recession which technically ended in June 2009, but still seems to be lingering on in a very real sense.
U.S. real-estate prices hit a peak somewhere around 2005-2006 and have been declining ever since, with many analysts now predicting a ‘bottom’ at the end of 2011. A recent report suggested that average prices in Florida are now 60% lower than they were five years ago.
It is thought that between 1997 and 2006, the price of the typical American house more than doubled with an increase of 124%, so perhaps it’s not entirely unsurprising.

House prices on the Dominican North Coast here also went up substantially over the last few years, but have not followed the same drop as the U.S., although local realtors report that activity is drastically down from the boom years.

We are now in the busier part of the year as far as tourism is concerned, and you can certainly see more tourists around compared to the summer.
But tourist arrivals have been much less over 2010 and 2009, whatever official Government statistics say. Official figures seem to bounce up and down with one week’s report contradicting the previous one, but the evidence of the drop in tourism has taken its toll on the entire North Coast which relies on tourism for much of its income.

Hotels, including the large all-inclusives, have been forced to lay off thousands of workers and in some cases have closed their doors, perhaps temporarily. With thousands of hotel workers out of jobs, other non-tourist related businesses also feel the pain.
But it’s not all doom and gloom.

The previously closed Sun Village hotel in Cofresi has been reopened as “Be Live”, part of the Globalia group’s portfolio, chaired by Juan Jose Hidalgo, a group that also owns the airline Air Europa.
Playa Dorada appears sadly to be well down from previous years, although the cinema has apparently re-opened its doors. Successful negotations have just been completed resulting in the sale of Occidental Allegro Hotel in Playa Dorada to an investor group led by Alberto del Pino for an amount said to be in excess of US$ 18 million.
The Dominican Tourism Ministry says that tourist arrivals from Canada are up 19% in November. And so it should be – at this time of year, Canada is bloody freezing!

While not meant to be a conclusive report, a casual look around the North Coast shows that many businesses are not letting the economic negativity affect their plans.
Cabarete in particular shows promise, as foreign and local money continues to be invested.
Condo developments Amber Dune, Millennium and Gran Cabanna say they are going ahead with construction of a reported 700 rooms.
The world-famous Cabarete beach, although quieter than former years is showing new interest, with U.S. restaurant/hotel chain, Nikki Beach opening a restaurant, and others such as the Kahunas either being improved or taken over.

Back to basics, there are now more places to buy your weekly groceries, and existing supermarkets are investing by improving or expanding. You can’t not notice the new traffic lights outside Supermercado Playero in Sosua, which coincided with the expansion of their parking facilities. Supermercado Janets in Cabarete increased their retail space over the last couple of months and built a shiny new façade. CityMarket (formerly the Dollar store) at El Choco also made a lot of improvements, all adding up to much more choice for local residents.

La Sirena (another new entrant to the North Coast) still dominates the North Coast in terms of supermarket size, but the fact that other competing businesses are expanding and investing proves the vibrancy of the area, and thankfully means Cabarete and Sosua residents do not need to trek to Puerto Plata for food shopping.

Other evidence of expansion comes from a brand new furniture and hardware store (Pappatera) just opened up a few hundred meters from Playero on the main road toward Cabarete. And if you fancy venturing a little further, a double storey furniture store has just been built alongside the main road on the left just before you reach Sabaneta. Of course we also have the recently built Hidelisa store on the Puerto Plata ring road, which all adds up to a fair bit of choice for North Coast residents.

Just remember, the reason you are here. For many, it is the (nearly) all-year-round sunshine and the great beaches.
Back home, friends and family are languishing in the cold wishing they were here. So make the most of your opportunity and get out and enjoy yourself. Visit some North Coast businesses (especially the ones advertising in the Adscene) and spread the love – you’re now officially a North Coaster!