Jamaican Hoteliers Better Wake Up...Dom Rep is Calling
Here's what it now costs Jamaicans to vacation in the Dominican Republic vs Jamaica even with airfare included.
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My parents and I recently got back from the Dominican Republic. It was my father’s decision to vacation there for Jamaica’s Independence holiday in August, having visited many of the Jamaican properties multiple times over the years and just wanting a change.
I was the one who planted the seed, though, having researched it and found that vacationing at one of the all-inclusives in Punta Cana (their Montego Bay) can be comparable or even cheaper than staycationing in Jamaica, even if you include airfare.
We took Arajet Airlines, which started operations only in 2022 in the D.R. It now has direct flights between Kingston and Santo Domingo six days a week, and the flight time is scheduled for 1.5 hours, though it seemed shorter to me. The plane was filled with Jamaicans both ways. There is no visa requirement for Jamaicans.
The cost was US$1,398.75 for three tickets with the cost of two seats that had more legroom and three checked bags included. So an average of $466.25 per person.
For four nights and two rooms at the 5-star Margaritaville Island Reserve Cap Cana Hammock Adults Only, my father paid US$2,564.16 on Priceline.com inclusive of fees and taxes. The airport transfers between Santo Domingo and Punta Cana were just under 2.5 hours each way and cost US$240 both ways (without tip) for our group of three, making it US$4,202.91—all in. We ended up having additional expenses in the D.R., but that was 100% because of our mess-up.
This was only a bit more expensive than if we had stayed for the same four nights at hotels in Jamaica that my father thought, based on previous stays as a family, were comparable like the Hyatt Ziva or Jewel Grande in Montego Bay, both operated by Playa Hotels & Resorts.
I was particularly impressed by the buffet at Margaritaville — a generous serving of shrimp, salmon, and a special kind of ham that tasted like prosciutto. The food was very well done. The attention to detail in the rooms was evident as well and on point with the theme of beach life and margaritas, and, importantly, they were very clean. We opted for the beachfront rooms, though we had to walk about five to seven minutes in the hot sun to get to the part where you can swim, which wasn’t so nice. I also didn’t see the usually-included watersports, but maybe that was because I didn’t properly check.
When we got there, the sea was on the warmer side but still lovely — a vast area to swim without many stones. Looks like Punta Cana had placed a barrier in the actual water to block out the sargussum from coming in, and it was mostly effective.
On the way to the hotel, our taximan had pointed out to me BlueMall, where they had one of my favorite stores, Zara (my namesake). I went shopping there. Turns out they had other store brands you would see in a U.S. mall - L'Occitane, Polo Ralph Lauren, Quiksilver, to name a few. Prices were comparable to U.S. stores, though you get better deals in the U.S. They even have an Ikea in a different area, which I didn’t go to. I didn’t know that they had all these global retail brands in the Dominican Republic.
I wouldn’t say the vacation in D.R. was better than in Jamaica because there is something very magical about Jamaica that can’t be easily replicated elsewhere. What I am saying, though, is that it thankfully presents another option for Jamaicans, especially for those who just want a change or are tired of the high prices at all-inclusives in Jamaica.
And it’s about to get better. On October 31, Arajet will commence direct flights to Punta Cana, which eliminates the long road trip from Santo Domingo. Plus, even right now there are other destinations within reach. Arajet also flies from Kingston via Santo Domingo to other Latin American countries including places like Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala. The persons sitting beside me on the plane were heading to Cancun in Mexico for an eight-day stay.
Jamaica being affected by U.S. travel advisory
I bring this up now because in its second quarter earnings report released Monday, August 5, Playa Hotels & Resorts N V, whose shares trade publicly and who has resorts in the D.R., Jamaica and other places, reported that various metrics for its Jamaican resorts had been “heavily impacted” by the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory in January.
Revenues dipped 19% for its Jamaica business down by US$10.93 million to US$46.49 million compared to the US$57.42 million in the same quarter last year. Meanwhile revenues inched up 0.8% in the D.R. to US$65.66 million.
In Jamaica, Playa’s Owned Resort EBITDA, which is Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization, fell 40% to US$13.09 million from US$21.92 million. Meanwhile, the same measure in the Dominican Republic rose by 9.9% to US$24.16 million from US$21.98 million in last year’s second quarter. Playa also warned on its earnings call that the company will be negatively impacted by the effect of lower demand from Hurricane Beryl in the third quarter, according to a report in the Jamaica Observer.
Will Jamaicans Become More Important to the Jamaican Hotels?
So it stands to reason then, that, just like during Covid, retaining and attracting the Jamaican vacationer might become more important, and Playa has offered special rates for Jamaicans to stay at their hotels. But even with those special rates, the company may struggle to attract Jamaicans to help make up the shortfall from overseas guests. The reason is that Playa’s rates have gotten expensive. For the second quarter 2024, of their total rooms available in Jamaica, the Net Package Average Daily Rate was US$417.18, up almost 42% from US$294.39 in second quarter 2019, five years ago.
Playa’s resorts in D.R., like Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara, saw an even bigger spike — US$428.29 was the average daily rate in second quarter 2024, more than twice the rate in 2Q 2019 of US$182.37.
The difference is, though, that, unlike Jamaica, where Playa’s four Montego Bay resorts make up a bigger portion of available all-inclusives, there’s a whole lot more choice in Punta Cana.
For a random 5-night stay between Saturday Nov. 2 to Thursday Nov. 7, for example, a quick internet search on travel site Kayak shows only 20 available all-inclusives in Montego Bay, while there are 84 on offer in Punta Cana.
And the prices of the hotels are mostly cheaper in Punta Cana. The cheapest available room I could find on Tuesday, August 13, using my now VIP discount at Priceline.com for a 5-star stay at Margaritaville, for example, was US$1,670 for their Standard Room for those five nights for two adults. This compares to the Jamaican resident rate of US$2,079 for the comparable Hyatt Ziva in Montego Bay for the cheapest room, being a King, that was advertised on PlayaResorts.com. The best rate I could find on Priceline at another comparable hotel, Playa’s Jewel Grande in Montego Bay, was US$1,665, which was better than the local rate on their website at the time when I checked.
Now, to be sure, airfare to the D.R. does bump up the overall price. But even with airfare on Arajet, vacationing in Punta Cana for Jamaicans is still comparable or even slightly cheaper than staying at an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay. Inclusive of roundtrip airfare on Arajet with one checked bag for each person costing $405 each or $810 for two people, here’s how some of the 4- or 5-star all-inclusives in Punta Cana compare to some of those in Montego Bay, all with taxes and fees included:-
I would imagine that Playa would consider the local market important enough to their business, but a spokesperson declined to comment for this article. The President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association Robin Russell told me, though, that while he doesn’t have a specific percent, the local market is “very very important” to hotels on the north coast, where Montego Bay is. He concurred with RIU, which was quoted in a 2019 Gleaner article as saying, that “The local market is among the top five markets that we host in Jamaica.”
With airfare included, the RIU I found in Punta Cana was more expensive (US$2,280) than the two in Montego Bay, which were US$1,691 and US$2,028, respectively, for the aforementioned five November nights.
But that price is still not far off from Montego Bay’s RIUs, and with Arajet about to start flying direct between Kingston and Punta Cana, presenting a new opportunity for a new experience at an affordable price, the question is will RIU, Playa and other Jamaican hoteliers need to further discount prices to attract Jamaicans to get them to help make up for the shortfall from a key market like America?
Hotelier Christopher Issa of the S Hotel in Montego Bay, who just also recently came back from a trip to the Dominican Republic, says that though he gets only about 10% of his customers from Jamaica, "I now have to do a comparison with Dom Rep rates. They look lower than Jamaica when I was looking online."
He also says it could be a positive if other nationalities like Dominicans, on the return, are coming to Jamaica. However, that potential benefit might be limited because while Jamaicans don't need a visa to visit D.R., Dominicans need visas to come to Jamaica.
The Jamaica Tourist Board recently asked hoteliers to discount prices up to 65% for a sales blitz—no doubt to attract visitors.
I don’t know if Playa is belatedly taking heed, but between Tuesday, when I also told Playa I was working on this story, and this morning, the cheapest local resident rates at Jewel Grande Montego Bay have now dropped to $1,333 for the November 2-7 stay for the same One Bedroom Romance Partial Ocean View Suite on Playa’s website, below the lowest $1,665 rate I saw two days ago. Hyatt Ziva in Montego Bay, though, remained at the same US$2,079 for its King room.
I guess the key takeaway is, rates can change daily and Jamaican tourists will just have to keep shopping around.
Luckily, now, we can do more of that!
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NB: I am not paid in cash or kind to write about my experience in Punta Cana by any of the hotels, travel sites or retailers mentioned in this piece. 18 Degrees North Investigations is funded by reader subscriptions.
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