Minister Collado reports that tourism grew more than 20% in May with more than 750,000 visitors

Santo Domingo, D.R. June 7, 2023.- The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, informed this Tuesday that 621,575 people visited the Dominican Republic in the month of May by air, bringing to 3,379,392 the number of arrivals in the first five months of the year, a figure never seen before in the history of Dominican tourism.

In his now customary monthly press conference to announce the behavior of tourism industry statistics, Minister Collado said that last month the country received the arrival, by air alone, of 621,575 tourists, 11 percent more than in 2022 and 18% above 2019.

He reported, also, that in May the country received 136,374 cruise passengers, thus surpassing the 57,385 that arrived in 2022 and the 55,694 in 2019.

“If we add the 621,575 tourists who arrived by air and 136,374 cruise passengers, we will have 757,949 people visiting us in May, something never seen before in the history of Dominican tourism,” said Minister Collado.

The official said that in his administration the growth of tourism has been sustained, noting that in the first five months of this year the figure of 3,379,392 arrivals was reached, only by air.

He also revealed that in the same period, January-May, the country received 1,124,039 cruise passengers, “something never seen before”.

“This means that the Dominican Republic received 4,503,431 visitors in only five months, something truly extraordinary, something never seen before in the history of Dominican tourism. We did it again,” said Collado.

The Minister of Tourism estimates that by the end of the year, the Dominican Republic will receive 7.9 million tourists by air alone, the highest number of visitors in history.

He informed that the major countries of origin of tourists in May were the United States with 51.6%, Canada with 11.4%, Colombia with 4.2%, Argentina with 4.1% and Puerto Rico with 3.5%.

The airports that received the highest number of visitors last month were Punta Cana with 59.4%, Las Americas with 25.6, Cibao with 11.4, Puerto Plata with 2% and Catey and La Romana with 0.5%.