UNWTO: Dominican Republic attracts more tourists than the three largest countries in South America

By May 2023, the number of 3.3 million tourists arriving to Quisqueya by air alone will have reached 3.3 million.

The Dominican Republic attracted more tourists than Argentina, Brazil and Colombia in 2022, according to data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

The Dominican Republic is 175 times smaller than Brazil, which received 3.6 million tourists in 2022, compared to the more than seven million reached by Quisqueya. Colombia registered 4.4 million visitors during the same period.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili revealed in May that the Caribbean country is above the world average for its rapid recovery in the post-pandemic tourism industry.

The trend seems to be continuing because in the first five months of 2023, the Dominican Republic’s Minister of Tourism, David Collado, reported that the country has received more than 4.5 million visitors.

Up to May 2023, the figure of 3.3 million tourists arriving by air alone was reached. He also revealed that, during the same period, the country received 1.1 million cruise ship passengers, “something never seen before”, said the minister.

Collado indicated 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 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 tourists in history.