What Canadian Travelers To The Dominican Republic Can Expect From New Open Skies Agreement

Last Updated 10 months ago

Connectivity between Canada and the Dominican Republic has just received a huge boost thanks to the announcement of an open skies agreement between the two nations. Things rarely move fast in international diplomacy, and this agreement is no different, having taken 14 years to finalize.

This is what travelers can expect from the new open skies agreement.

What Canadian Travelers To The Dominican Republic Can Expect From New Open Skies Agreement

Increased Flight Choice To The Dominican Republic

Unfortunately, the reality is that politics has gotten in the way of airlines flying to more destinations and putting on more flights between the two nations. Furthermore, this stunted ability to provide a greater service to customers means fewer flights and more competition for seats for travelers. In other words, it’s meant higher airfares. With this new agreement, travelers may just see flight prices begin to drop.

With this new agreement, airlines can negotiate directly with any airport in both Canada and the Dominican Republic for new routes. In the future, the need for layovers could be a thing of the past, and this is welcome news to anyone who has had to endure a long layover in the past, an experience that can dampen the spirits of even the most positive traveler.

Convenience For Travelers

The choice to fly from a local airport in Canada to an airport right on the doorstep of a favored resort in the Dominican Republic is a big boost for travelers. Convenience is a hugely important aspect of choosing a destination, and it can seriously impact just how relaxing and enjoyable a vacation can be.

While the Dominican Republic is a relatively small country, the last thing travelers want to do upon landing is hop on an internal flight or take a long bus journey to their resort. This new connectivity is expected to make that a thing of the past.

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New Destination Choices

Punta Cana is, without a doubt, the crown jewel of the Dominican Republic as far as tourism is concerned. And while Punta Cana is a great choice for travelers, it has only a fraction of the resort choices in the nation.

With this new agreement, the whole of the Dominican Republic will open up for Canadians. In the north is Puerto Plata, the birthplace of tourism in the nation. This beautiful colonial city bursts with culture, friendly locals, and stunning beaches. While the area is already well-developed for tourism, another recent announcement has set Puerto Plata on track to rival Punta Cana for the crown of “perfect Caribbean destination”.

Furthermore, not only does this give a greater opportunity for reduced airfares, it creates more competition between the resorts of the Dominican Republic to earn the visit of Canadian travelers. This is expected to translate into more inviting package deals from vacation operators, but it also puts more pressure on resorts to provide high levels of service and amenities and, in turn, encourage travelers to choose them over their rivals.

Why Canada Is Important

The government and tourism industry in the Dominican Republic are very aware of just how important Canadian travelers are to the country. In fact, Canadians are second only to Americans in visitor numbers. For 20 years, Canada has been the second-largest and fastest-growing market in the Dominican Republic.

Canadian Cities That Currently Fly Direct

There are many cities in Canada flying direct to the Dominican Republic already; these include large population centers such as Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Ottawa. Although there are plenty of connections between the two nations, the big issue currently for travelers is flight frequency.

For example, the important city of Vancouver’s direct flight to Punta Cana is provided by the airline Sunwing and only flies on Mondays. This rigid choice for Vancouverites can affect so many aspects of the vacation planning process. Firstly, it ties them into either finding a resort in Punta Cana or, as mentioned before, paying extra for travel inside the country. As well as restricted destination choice, it also gives little control over vacation dates.

That restriction of choice should become a thing of the past for Canadians, and travelers planning a vacation to the Dominican Republic in the future should keep informed in the months to come about the expected increase in choice from Canadian cities.