Dominican Republic: Caribbean, U.S. third preferred destination after Europe and Australia

Dominican Republic. The Caribbean region is the third destination in the preference of U.S. travelers, behind Europe and Australia, said an executive of the marketing agency, public relations and advertising in the tourism market Ypartnership, citing results of a study by the National Travel Monitor released in November.

During the meeting, Communication and Tourism "in the auditorium of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), Dominican Republic, Peter Yesawich, Ypartnership president, said Europe ranks first in the tourist preference, with 60 %, followed by Australia with 19% and the Caribbean is third with 13%, followed by Canada with 12%, Asia with 11%, Mexico with 8%, 7% Latin America, Middle East and Africa with 6% to 4% .

Yesawich said that according to a study conducted in 2008, 12% of respondents said he wanted to visit somewhere in the Caribbean over the next two years. In 2009 it rose to 13% the proportion who cited this region.

The expert noted that, according to the study, 53% of households in the United States is planning a trip between October and April this year, 2010. "Very important figure, but represents a decrease compared with 56% recorded last year.

He added that 87% of people probably book a tour package to save money. In this regard, said the National Travel Monitor report shows that it is likely that 84% of travelers spend less money, 64% purchase deals on the Internet and 51% opt for fewer nights. He added that according to the report over 70% of households have access to the Internet compared with 11% that was reported in 1996.

This year, 61% of passengers using airlines or hotels used the Internet as an information source to plan your trips and 24% used the Internet travel agency. "This means that 85% was under the influence of the Internet for their holiday and only 7% said they used traditional travel agencies," he said.

He explained that the changes affecting the Internet has been rapid, since in 2009 the 66% acknowledged that the network used to plan some aspects of leisure travel, compared with 53% who used in 2002.

Besides, what I most appreciate a website for 87% of Americans is the ability to compare prices, while 74% valued the facility to book online. "He called attention to the growing multicultural profile of American society and the weight of Hispanics, with nearly 50 million residents there do not speak English at home and of these more than half speak Spanish," he said.

The report analyzed by Yesawich shows that in the U.S. market there has been a renewed interest in the family, and that 71% of parents want their families to spend more time together and 69% wanted more time to enjoy and talk to their children.

Source: CaribbeanNewsDigital