Cruise losses from coronavirus top US$139M

Santo Domingo- The suspension of flights from Europe, China, South Korea and Iran, as well as the cruise passengers turned away to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, could lead to losses as high as US$139 million for the country.

Said estimates are based on the calculation of the average spending that cruise passengers and non-resident tourists normally make in hotels and tourist goods and services establishments when they touch Dominican soil.

When analyzing the cruise industry during March last year, it is observed that 98,684 passengers entered, who spent an estimated US$8,371,923. Also, with the arrival of 117,288 tourists from Europe, in the referred period, for income of US$128,056,454.

Meanwhile, due to the arrival of 2,598 tourists from China, South Korea and Iran, the tourism sector received 2,967,793 dollars.

The data is based on an average cost of US$89.1 for each passenger on cruises and US$136 for non-resident tourists, who stay an average of eight nights in the country, according to the report “Tourist Statistics 2018” of the Central Bank.