The Dominican Republic received 757,949 visitors during the month of May 2023; 621,575 arrived by air and another 136,374 by sea, bringing the total to 4,503,431 arrivals in the first five months of the year, a figure never seen in the history of Dominican tourism, according to Tourism Minister David Collado.
“This means that the Dominican Republic received 4,503,431 visitors in only five months, something truly extraordinary, something never seen before in the history of Dominican tourism, said Collado.
In the first five months of the year the country received by air 3,379,392, during the month of May it registered 621,575 tourists, 11 percent more than in 2022 and 18% above 2019, informed the minister during his customary monthly press conference to announce the behavior of the statistics of the tourism industry.
In May, he indicated, the country received 136,374 cruise passengers, thus surpassing the 57,385 that arrived in 2022 and the 55,694 in 2019.
“If we add the 621,575 tourists who arrived by air and 136,374 cruise passengers, we will have 757,949 people visiting us in the month of May, something never seen in the history of Dominican tourism,” the minister pointed out.
The official said that in his administration the growth of tourism has been sustained, after noting that in the first five months of this year reached the figure of 3,379,392 arrivals, only by air.
Collado revealed as “something never seen before”, the arrival of 1,124,039 cruise passengers in the January-May period. The Minister of Tourism estimates that by the end of 2023, the Dominican Republic will receive, by air alone, a record 7.9 million tourists.
He informed that the major countries of origin of tourists in May were the United States with 51.6%, Canada with 11.4%, Colombia with 4.2%, Argentina with 4.1 and Puerto Rico with 3.5%.
The airports that received the highest number of visitors last month were Punta Cana at 59.4%, Las Americas at 25.6, Cibao at 11.4, Puerto Plata at 2%, and Catey and La Romana at 0.5%.
Collado revealed that the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR) has saved more than RD$7.5 billion pesos in the international promotion of the country, “thanks to the fact that we have a public-private committee that has taken all decisions together and unanimously”.
“And this is what it is all about. It is about transforming our country, about demonstrating that, without playing politics, we can set an example as is being done in the Ministry of Tourism. For me, it has been a great honor to spend almost three years managing tourism and the brand of the Dominican Republic, and I do it with much love and with much dedication,” said Collado at the end of his speech.
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