- Dominican Republic Accumulates Over 5 Million Visitors from January to May
- Tourist Flow Grew by 12% in May
The Ministry of Tourism predicts half a million additional visitors to the 11 million projected just two weeks ago, a figure that raises the bar to the goal expected to be reached by the end of 2024.
Its head, David Collado, assured that the Dominican Republic will have the capacity to mobilize that number of passengers following the expansion of tourist flow last May, when 677,475 tourists arrived by air, and 169,260 by sea.
Thus, the total number of visitors in May was 846,735, which constituted a 12% increase over the same month last year.
This growth brings the total to 5,026,990 non-resident foreigners and Dominicans in the diaspora who have been in the country since January.
“It’s more than five million visitors in the first five months of the year,” emphasized Collado, who described these figures as “extremely strong” for the sector.
The institution projects that:
- 2.7 million travelers would arrive between April and June
- 2.3 million would do so between June and September
- 3.3 million between October and December
This last figure would exceed by 100,000 the 3,225,484 visitors who have already arrived in the country in the first quarter of the year, allowing the Dominican Republic to maintain its position as the number one tourist destination in terms of tourist arrivals in the Americas, a position it has held since late 2023.
12% Growth
Visitor arrivals from January to May represent a 12% increase compared to 2023 when this period closed with 4,503,431. It also represents a 43% increase compared to 2019, the pre-covid-19 global crisis reference year.
Meanwhile, the growth in visitor arrivals in May alone was influenced by a 12% increase in the number of commercial flights to the country, which in that month registered 5,490, with a seat occupancy rate of 73%.
The same occurred in the frequency of maritime arrivals, which increased by 24% compared to last May, with 41 operations. This activity had a positive impact on hotels and short-term accommodations, whose occupancy remained around 70% and 19%, respectively.
The Dominican tourism product has high levels of satisfaction; 92% of the more than 11,000 surveyed tourists indicated that they would return to the country, while 61% would recommend the destination.
Maintaining Fiscal Incentives
For the president of the Dominican Republic Hotels and Tourism Association (Asonahores), David Llibre, the current scheme of fiscal incentives is part of the “formula” that has stimulated the arrival of visitors and has allowed the country to project more than 11 million visitors by the end of 2024.
The executive expressed to Diario Libre that the hotel sector hopes that these incentives continue amid a tax reform, as they have guaranteed investments in new rooms and the remodeling of infrastructures that allow the country to have a competitive offer.
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