Dominican Republic sees 3.2 million visitors in 1st quarter

Punta Cana, DR.- Tourism Minister David Collado announced on Tuesday that the Dominican Republic continues to smash visitor arrival records. In the first three months of the year alone, the country welcomed a staggering 3.2 million visitors.

That impressive number includes 1.1 million visitors in March, a 16% increase compared to the same month last year. Collado also revealed a breakdown of arrivals, with 836,502 tourists arriving by air and 267,768 by sea.

“We continue to reach spectacular figures: 1,104,270 visitors last month, which gives us the magic number of 3,226,484 in the first three months of this year, something never seen before in the history of Dominican tourism,” Minister Collado said when presenting the sector’s performance during an activity in Punta Cana, where the main players in the industry participated.

The official said that the arrival of 836,502 tourists by air last month is only comparable to the Christmas season.

He expressed that this figure reflects a growth of 13% compared to March of last year, 35% compared to 2022 and 24% compared to 2019.

Collado pointed out that this historic growth is also reflected in the cruise ship area, with the arrival of 267,768 visitors by sea in March alone, rising to 1,104,270 cruise passengers in the January-March 2024 period.

He explained that the countries that contributed the most tourists in March and the first quarter of this year were the United States with 49%, Canada with 23%, Colombia and Argentina with 3%.

The airports that received the most tourists were Punta Cana with 61%, Las Américas 21%, Cibao 10%, Puerto Plata 7% and La Romana with 1%.