Storm in Catalonia cancels over 400 flights at El Prat

The storm battering Catalonia has already left more than 400 flights cancelled at Barcelona's El Prat airport, as reported by Hosteltur. Barcelona is one of Europe's main hubs feeding transatlantic flights to the Caribbean, so any blockage there is felt across the ocean in the form of passengers who never arrive and seats that stay empty.

The takeaway for the Dominican industry is clear: air connectivity is today the most fragile and most valuable asset in tourism. A one-off weather event does not change the trend, but it does remind us that destinations which diversify their routes, extend seasons and work with several airlines weather these bumps better than those dependent on a single source market.

The Dominican Republic heads into this season with a broader air network than ever, with airports such as Punta Cana, Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata operating at a healthy pace. The challenge is to keep adding frequencies and alternative routes so that a storm in Europe does not become an occupancy problem on the coast. That is where the opportunity lies: those with product and diversified connectivity hold up better.