Destination briefing
High Season Lead Times: Counting Backwards From December
Almost every rushed order in this category has the same origin. Somebody counted forward from today instead of backwards from the busiest week, and discovered the gap in November.
The fixed part of the calendar.
Two things do not move. Minimum order is 500 pieces per artwork — per artwork, not per property — and production runs 14 to 21 days after artwork approval. Everything before approval is negotiable; everything after it is arithmetic.
On top of production sit transit and local receiving, which are separate responsibilities and are worth assigning by name rather than assuming. A shipment that arrives correctly and then waits is a shipment that has not arrived.
Counting backwards.
The Dominican high season runs from December into April, with Semana Santa as a second peak inside it — and Semana Santa 2026 was reported at roughly 885 flights, up 24.1% year on year, so it is not a minor one. A property covering that window needs stock landed and counted before the first heavy arrival week, not during it.
Working backwards from a December start: receiving and internal distribution, then transit, then 14–21 days of production, then the sampling and approval cycle before that, then the artwork and specification work before that. The approval date lands considerably earlier than most people assume, which is the entire reason this briefing exists.
What compresses badly, and what does not.
The stage that cannot be compressed without cost is sample approval. It is the last cheap moment to change colour, placement, finish or numbering, and skipping it moves those decisions into production, where changing them means a reprint rather than an email.
The stage that genuinely can be compressed is the artwork conversation, provided the specification was settled first. Properties that hold an approved artwork file and encoding sheet from a previous order can go from decision to production in a fraction of the time, because they are repeating a known product rather than designing one.
This is also where zone matters. A property in Uvero Alto or Miches is further from the usual receiving points than one in Bávaro, and that distance belongs in the plan rather than in the apology.
What to confirm
- 01
The first heavy arrival week the order has to cover.
- 02
Local receiving and internal distribution time at the property.
- 03
Transit and customs clearance, assigned by name.
- 04
Production at 14–21 days after artwork approval.
- 05
Sample approval cycle, which is the stage not to compress.
- 06
Whether an approved artwork file and encoding sheet already exist from a previous order.
- 07
Zone, since road distance from receiving points is real time.
Put it in the brief
Set the artwork approval date first and let everything else hang from it. A property that fixes the approval date in the previous quarter is buying a normal order; one that fixes it in November is buying an expensive one.
| Coverage window | First and last week this order has to carry |
|---|---|
| Receiving | Who receives at the property, and how long distribution takes |
| Transit and clearance | Route, and who is responsible for clearance |
| Production | 14–21 days from artwork approval |
| Approval | Who signs the sample, and by when |
| Existing record | Whether artwork and encoding already exist |
| Zone | Property zone and road distance from receiving |
Sources
Figures cited come from the linked publications and are not our own data. Publication names and record titles stay in their original language.