Don't count your chickens before they hatch. The price of an escorted day trip within the Punta Cana tourist zone starts at about US $50 pp and up. The travel to Santo Domingo and return will average 4-5 hours under the expectations of the addition of the Coral highway. The catch will be what will be the tariff pp charged for such a venture, some offer a full day tour for US $80 (Colonial Tours) The tourists come to the island and the all inclusive resorts because of a good quality visit at reasonable prices which makes the area a great destination. However, tourists will hesitate at optional tours at high prices, especially if a family group.

We can expect some increase of tours to the Colonial Zone, the big question will be how big of an increase.

Is that a picture of a NARCO PURPLE PLD Rally?

Knock down the overpasses, underpasses, restrict traffic are the first priority. There are 20 other cities in the World with decent planners that are more favourable for tourists so just forget it.
Its a horrible city in a beautiful land and its been getting worse rapidly with increased traffic, stupid deserted shopping malls etc. , criminals who can rush away along super highways etc.

I stayed recently at a leading hotel in the Colonial Zone. What a joke - hotel 50% empty - police forcing everywhere to close at 2 am. Hotel rates higher than some capitals of Europe. No police patrols. Wires hanging everywhere. Hastle by ,official tour guides, whereever and whenvever.

These guys need to get real.

Traffic free zone apart from buses, taxis etc. for 5 km outside Colonial Zone.

Demolish overpasses etc. 20 more points that characters wont let me mention here.

Tourists appreciate ambinece of historic city - now destroyed since the 50,s.

S.




S.

"horrible city in a beautiful land"

Agreed!

Santo Calcutta!

no estoy de acuerdo con josean , es una cuidad llena de belleza pero no respectan los derechos humanos ni el turismo , lo cual es muy importante para el desarollo de la zona .creo que es una cuestion de todo el dominicano de mantener nuetra patria y mantenernos lleno de orgullo . si no tienen un departamento de autoridades que les importe es imposible mantener el orden , los policias estan mal pagados y esto es un problema . ya ellos estan acostumbrados a la coruction , pero no es tarde para corejir este problema .

There are no overpasses in zona colonial but it is a very small area bounded by Ave Mella and George Washington and calle pina ..that is the area within the old walls .Within the zone are dozens of wonderful monuments including at least 8 beautiful churches, the original hospital , parque espana , parque independencia , very interesting galleries , good restaurants , some good hotels and and some beautifully restored buildings .
Regrettably , there is a lack of parking , very ugly power lines and at least 90 colonial buildings that need urgent renovations but in more than 2000 homes..
abc ,,you ddo not understand that if there were proper car parks then thecars would not ve a problem and residents need to have car permits as in London .

Outside of the social ills apparent even to a Blind person in Santo Calcutta, you have, as abc200 has stated, the horrendous construction of Super Ugly Over Passes Polluting the View of the skyline, added to the horrible Narco-Towers that are built with no respect to the architectural history of the oldest City in “New” world.

Not to mention the stupid Malls that add unnecessary overcrowding to an already densely over used areas!

The car alarm problem needs to be resolved in the colonial zone. Why not put fines on cars whose alarms go off? Great way to restore peace and quiet to the Colonial Zone and think of all the money that could be made to clean up the zone!!!!

Salcedo has not done much with the Colonial Area. He has focused on Jurassic Park and Guibia Beach which are both crazy ideas.

I think we need a new mayor.

Rich
I will anwer your points:

As a previous poster responded the skyline is important. Tourists probably want to walk for ZC to Chinatown. Why overpasses - demolish them!

Parking - when I lived in Munich it was not possible to hire a parking space near the house. The nearest were 5 km out by metro or tram. As in London a special zone ticket was necessary to visit the house by car.

There is also crime within ZC - made easy by car access.

So you condemn London, Munich, Istanbul etc. etc. all adopted similar policies but with great tourism?

It is easy for SD - just demolish underpasses, overpasses tunnels etc within a 5 mile radius of the centre - also shopping malls that are not full 50% of the time so outdoor markets can be constructed.

Parking places can be constructed out of town and leased to residents.

S.

Don't drive to CZ, take a Burro instead.

Hey, people ride in horse Carriages in Big New York why not Burritos in Little New York?

You could be on to something!

Our tourism industry is going down into the drain. If you dont believe me try going to Puerto Plata, Bavaro, Boca Chic, ect. In each region you will find a "little Haiti" that sometime outnumber Dominicans like the case in Bavaro (when there is nothing to build?). That is what the tourists take back to their home. I will never go back there because people living under tree in unsanitary condition. Sadly there is nothing we can do about it. Because of political correctness we will be left without a country. Watch

"Our tourism industry is going down into the drain."

How can that be, with the Narco-PURPLE Geniuses that have been ruling the country for the last 12 years out of 16?

abc there are no overpasses between zona colonial and china towwn ..you walk straight up duarte and cross mejia and there you are ,
gringo 1 I agree totally that the car alarms are too noisy and the owner is seldom around to turn it off .
abc let me tell you that the crime is not committed by people with cars ..in zc the main problema are cat burglars and the hotels in ZC need taxis also ..We are not talking abount SD nacional ..only ZC

The only place worth living in the D.R. is Santo Domingo. You have all the modern conveniences and Culture while the country and the beaches just a short drive away.

What Santo Domingo does need is more Highways. At least 3 more north south limited access and 2 more east west.
Also the government should either invest in Parking garages(For profit) while restricting parking on the public roads. Also deregulating to allow the private investment in parking garages.

Most Dominicans, like the tourist who visit DR, say the same thing I love the country except Santo Domingo!

thank goodnes there are many who are are not in your most

Then why aren’t the tourists FLOODING Santo Calcutta, Spinmiester!

I was just in Bavaro, it was packed! Puerto Plata was dead, Cabarete had a few tourists. Santiago was sleepy & kinda dead. Then again, if I try going in December through March it'll probably be a different story. I think the ZC could be very profitable, it just needs alotta TLC.

Written by: Yucahu, 24

"Santiago was sleepy & kinda dead. "

When is that not the case?

You cannot expect the tourists now because we are outside the cruiser season and it is not the tourist season for the capital ..but on the other hand at the week end there were a lot of people that looked and talked like tourists in zona colonial and becase the two Sofitel hotels have had week end specials they have been busy ...but this article talks about the impact of the coral highway on tourism in the capital ...and on Friday I will be driving to a graduation ceremony in Higuey so may make a few detours just to get a better feeling for when this project could be completed ...I think the detour around la Romana will be the biggest hold up

Depends which way you walk from ZC to Chinatown. Av 27 de Feb is the chief eyesore in the area that needs demolishing. It is also unnecessary and feeds motorists into the area who argue and fight over parking when they are not out stealing something.
Yes, many cities have good other means of transport - not only donkeys.
A survey needs to be done of tourists to find out what they find attractive and unattractive.
Old buildings in disrepair need to be subject to compulsory purchase and restored; rented out etc.

London, Paris, Amsterdam etc. even Rio have long near year round tourist seasons.

S.






S.

How do you post a comment where all the preceding comments are, for the most part, correct? There are many who would like to ban cars and heavy trucks from the CZ completely....their motives are noble, but what do you tell the residents who live there...go back to riding horses and buggies? The traffic along Calle Mercedes is just crazy at times.....polluting the entire area.....noise and carbon emissions. For the most part, the Plaza de Colon is dead....no one there....a few tourist groups.....but in general, no one. The bars and restaurants around the Plaza have a hard time staying in business. The exceptions are the weeks before and after Christmas. Trying to use the cross walk at Calle19th de Marzo to cross Av Washington is like trying to cross Broadway against the traffic signal.....impossible! The Tourist Authority for the Colonial Zone is worthless in my view. The rents are too high for any new start up businesses. Water pressure is bad and power costs too high.

while I agree with some of the comments ,,and it is with great sadness that I report that Museo de Jamon is closed for good in Plaza Espana , my water pressure is good , and my power bill is 1500 pesos per month with an air conditioner but I agree that residents must be able to use their cars...abc is just quite geographically off course..the elavado on 27 de Febrero is no where near Zona colonial and cannot be seen from anywhere in zona colonial ..he needs a compass

"my power bill is 1500 pesos per month with an air conditioner"

Celso are you aware of that?

RD, Santo Domingo, and the Colonial Zone are all cool places to hang. F#@k the problems!