Up to a Million Tourists are Expected to Arrive on Cruises in the Next Three Years

Magaly Toribio, Deputy Minister of Tourism in charge of international promotion, said that during the next three years they are expecting up to one million travelers to arrive to the Dominican Republic aboard cruise ships.

“The goal for the private, as well as public, sector is to receive at least a million cruise ship tourists in the next three years.

Ms. Toribio was the keynote speaker at a conference called “Cruise Ships and Their Impact on the Development of Dominican Tourism.” The conference, attended by officials, professors and students of Tourism and Hotel Administration at APEC University, was organized by the Tourism School under the direction of Luís Felipe Aquino. The conference took place in the Leonel Rodriguez Rib Auditorium.

“The goal for the private, as well as public, sector is to receive at least a million cruise ship tourists in the next three years. After all, the other Caribbean islands rely almost exclusively on this type of tourism. This will imply a huge boost for Santo Domingo as we have the historical and cultural wealth of the Colonial Zone,” explained Toribio.

Toribio added that cruise liner tourism is a promising element to complement tourism development in the DR and in particular the city of Santo Domingo where it will have a positive economic and social impact. For this reason, she explained, the Ministry of Tourism and the private sector have united their efforts to sell the Dominican Republic as a major port of call for cruise ships.

She added that several large cruise lines have already confirmed that they will drop anchor this coming summer in the DR. Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Opera, Costa Cruise Line and Aida Cruise Line will dock in Samaná and La Romana. The Legend of the Seas, the international line of the Royal Caribbean, will be calling into the Port of Santo Domingo,

Cruise liner tourism is sure to supplement the already large volume of visitors who arrive by airplane. Toribio noted that around a quarter of a million tourists visit the Dominican Republic annually.