Source: dr1 Travel News
Non-resident air arrivals to the Dominican Republic are now up 7.9% from January to August 2015, which promises to be a bumper year for tourism in the Dominican Republic.
After a record 10.4% in arrivals in July, August turned in another strong month with 9.7%, according to statistics compiled by the Central Bank.
In August 2015, 465,806 non-resident air arrivals were up 41,091 compared to the same month in 2014. The number of non-resident foreign tourists was 396,091, up 8.9%, equal to 32,445 more tourists. The number of Dominican non-resident arrivals was 69,175, up 14.2%, or 8,646 more visitors this August compared to last year.
Most tourists continue to come from the United States and Canada. From January to August 2015, non-resident visitors totaled 3,892,892 passengers, 87.2% of whom were foreigners and 12.8% non-resident Dominicans.
The Central Bank also notes significant growth in the South American market from January to August 2015 compared to last year with increases in tourists coming from Brazil (24,377), Venezuela (15,329), Argentina (12,343), Colombia (7,582), Chile (3,945) and Peru (3,177).
More tourists arrived from Europe, with the exception of Russia. Spain was up 14,816, UK 12,770, Germany 9,584, Portugal 5,137, Italy 4,381, the Netherlands 2,477, Poland 1,982 and France 1,651. But there was a marked decline of 80,459 visitors from Russia, reflecting the economic crisis affecting the country.
Central Bank analysts concluded that the increase in visitors was due to the improvements in the US economy and strategies implemented by the Ministry of Tourism working closely with the private sector to consolidate the DR’s leading position in tourism in the Caribbean.
From January to August 2015, resident and non-resident arrivals totaled 4,254,119.
Most tourists arrived via Punta Cana International Airport with 66.6% of total foreigner air arrivals, for 2,261,546 arrivals from January to August 2015, up 8.5% compared to the same period last year.
