Impressive Number of Tourists Continue to Visit the D.R.

Santo Domingo, August 14, 2018 – The Dominican Republic continues to work to attract an impressive number of tourists from all over the world. During the past month of July 665,669 non-resident visitors traveled to the country through its international airports, representing a healthy 4.4% growth.  This percentage represents 28,006 additional visitors, in comparison to the same period in 2017.

Minister of Tourism, Francisco Javier García, commented on the recent report issued by the country’s Central Bank which highlighted that between January and July of this year 4,106,474 non-resident visitors traveled to the country through its airports. That number represents an additional 227,140 visitors in relationship to the same period in 2017, and representing an accumulated growth of 5.9%.

This increase includes the 3,576,393 international visitors traveling to the country, and who represented a 4.7% growth.  This percentage represents an additional 160,063 visitors.  The number of additional Dominican non-residents registered at 530,081, for a 14.5% growth and an additional 67,077 visitors.

Minister García explained that this growth has much to do, among other things, with the successful ad campaigns and promotion initiatives carried out by the Ministry and the private sector.  All have contributed to the positive results shown during this period.

The Minister also highlighted that during the first seven months of this year the arrival of visitors registered a healthy 5.9% growth, surpassing the expectations projected by the World Tourism Organization for the Americas.  This growth is consistent with the Ministry’s goal of having 10 million tourists travel to the country by the year 2022.

The majority of travelers arrived through Punta Cana’s international airport.  In total, the airport received 2,494,280 foreign visitors, representing a 7.9% growth.  The airport received an overall 69.7% of the total number of tourists traveling to the country.

Santo Domingo’s Las Americas International Airport handled 540,369 visitors, a 15.1% growth. Puerto Plata’s international airport, in the country’s north coast, received  278,090 visitors, representing 7.8% of all arrivals. The number of tourists  traveling through these three airports represents 92.6% of all arrivals.

IMPORTANT DATA
The Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, Zurab Pololikashvili, stated in a press release issued on June 25, 2018, “that tourism continues to grow throughout the world, which translates to the creation of jobs in many economies.”

This growth places an increase in demand in the capacity to develop and manage the tourism industry in a sustainable manner, through the creation of intelligent destinations and by taking full advantage of cutting edge technology and innovative techniques.

This growth was spearheaded by Asia and the Pacific region (+8%); Europe (+7%); África (+6%); the Middle East (+4%) and the Americas, with a solid +3%, consistent with the numbers projected by the Organization for the region.