- Asonahores highlights tourism activity generates more than 880 thousand jobs and US$11,866 million in foreign exchange
The Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores) reported that the tourism industry consolidated its position as one of the main pillars of the Dominican economy in 2025, with a total contribution equivalent to 15.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP), by integrating the direct impact of the activity with the indirect and induced effects it generates through the national production chain.
Asonahores stressed that the dimension reached by the sector shows that its economic impact transcends the hotel industry and extends to job creation, foreign currency and investment captivation, tax collection and stimulating multiple productive activities.
According to the data presented at the Asonahores 2026 Trade Fare, tourism contributed a total of around US$21,619 million to the economy in 2025. Directly, tourism activities account for 8.3% of GDP, while when incorporating their indirect and knock-on effects, the percentage rose to 15.9%.
Asonahores chairman, Juan Bancalari, said that these figures reflect tourism’s ability to transmit growth to different sectors of the economy and extend its benefits beyond the main destinations.
“Dominican tourism must be measured by its ability to transform the economy. Behind each visitor there is a chain that creates jobs, demands goods and services, attracts investments, produces foreign exchange and creates opportunities for thousands of Dominican companies. Our challenge is to continue expanding that impact so that tourism growth increasingly translates into productive development for the country,” Bancalari said.
He also stressed that one of the main contributions of tourism to the country’s economic stability is associated with its ability to generate foreign exchange. In 2025, income from this concept amounted to US$11,866 million, a growth of 9.3% compared to the previous year.
Likewise, the sector maintained its attractiveness for international capital, drawing US$1,288 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the same period.
Asonahores said that the trend continues during 2026. As of June, tourism revenues reached US$6,716 million, an increase of 15% compared to the same period in 2025. “This creation of resources makes the sector one of the determining activities for sustaining the flow of foreign currency in the Dominican economy,” he said.
He pointed out that, during 2025, 882,419 direct, indirect and induced jobs were linked to the activity, equivalent to approximately one in six jobs in the country. Of the total, 301,800 were direct jobs; 400,610 originated indirectly through the goods and services supply chain; while a further 180,010 were associated with the impact induced by household consumption related to tourism activity.
Similarly, he highlighted that labor indicators also show an evolution of the average contributory salary in hotels, bars and restaurants, which went from RD$22,705 to RD$27,580, according to the data presented. In 2025, the sector contributed RD$10,774 million to the Social Security Treasury.
He also highlighted that tax collection corresponding to hotels, bars and restaurants reached RD$45,227 million in 2025, compared to RD$15,611 million in 2015, practically tripling their tax contribution in a decade.
Asonahores believes these indicators confirm that the expansion of tourism has effects that reach the Dominican economy across the board. “Sectors such as agriculture and fishing, manufacturing, construction, commerce, transport and logistics, basic services, and professional and financial services are part of a supply chain that grows along with tourism demand,” he said.
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