The Dominican Republic is firmly pursuing its goal of exceeding 11 million visitors by the end of the year, with more than 10,005,800 visitors arriving on Monday for the second consecutive year.
This was announced by President Luis Abinader and the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, while leading an event at a hotel in the capital, where representatives of the various sectors involved in the tourism industry participated.
Taking stock of the sector's performance over the years, President Abinader highlighted the impact that tourism has on the Dominican economy and on job creation.
He assured that by the end of this year the barrier of 11 million visitors will be broken.
The president said he was very optimistic about tourism and confirmed that work is being done to strengthen existing destinations and encourage new ones.
Minister Collado reported that in November alone the country received 881,499, 54% more than the same month in 2019, 15% more than in 2022 and 2% more than last year.
He indicated that last month the country received 667.45 million by air, which represents a growth of 44% compared to November of last year, 17% compared to 2022 and 5% compared to 2023.
He said that the country received 214,454 cruise passengers by sea, 93% more than in November 2019 and 10% more than in 2022.
The official guaranteed that incentives for the tourism sector will be maintained, due to the sustained growth that the sector maintains.
The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism (ASONAHORES), David Llibre, indicated that to date more than 4,500 commercial flights have been registered with a hotel occupancy rate of 76%.
He also noted that there are currently 400 hotels in the country with more than 84,000 rooms.
During the event, President Abinader and Minister Collado presented awards to several institutions and personalities.
Banco Popular Dominicano, Banco de Reservas and Banco BHD received plaques for their contributions to the development of tourism.
Likewise, businessman Frank Rainieri, considered a pioneer of Dominican tourism, was recognized.
It is recalled that the tourism industry generates more than 720,000 jobs directly, indirectly and induced for 18% of the country's employment.
Source: Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic.