Tourist arrivals begin to awaken Dominican Republic from the lethargy of Covid-19

Santo Domingo, DR

During the first ten months of this year, more than 2.1 million passengers have entered the Dominican Republic by air, of which more than 1.4 million are foreign visitors, which gives an idea that non-residents and foreigners are beginning to visit this destination despite the impact left by the global pandemic on the tourism industry.

In October of this year, 2020 alone, 7,901 foreign tourists arrived, not counting non-residents. The number, if compared to 2019, when there was no pandemic, registers a drop. Still, it also becomes interesting if we consider the arrival of only 102 foreign tourists in January this year, 73 in February, 357 in March, and already in July 54,105, in August 50, 068, in September 46,877 and in October 70, 901.

Markets

In addition to the U.S. market, other tourists from North America to the Dominican Republic are Canada and Mexico. As of October, 39,398 tourists had arrived from the United States and 42,574 from North America.

From South America, significant growth of 2,517 foreign visitors is reported only in September. In October, the figure goes over the 5,970 tourists, according to the tourist activity statistics in the Dominican Republic, of the Central Bank (BCRD) in January-October 2020.

The South American market includes the countries receiving tourists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and others.

Although some recipients are still slow, Latin American and Caribbean countries such as Curaçao, Haiti, and Puerto Rico are still growing.

Passengers from Asia increased from 390 to 661 in October. While the European market, which is of great importance to the Dominican Republic because it includes long-distance destinations, has grown from 4,613 visitors to 11,216. Countries such as Finland only recorded four passenger arrivals during the entire pandemic period. From 787 passengers, France shows an increase in the arrival of 3,701 tourists, and Spain, which is another essential destination, shows growth from 1,703 to 2,275 visitors.

The BCRD tourism flow report on visitors’ behavior to the Dominican Republic during January-October indicates that the total number of passengers by air was 2,103, 905 visitors. Of these, 162,414 arrived in October alone, of which 7,901 were foreigners and 138,276 non-resident passengers. The airports that have received the most passenger arrivals between January and October are Las Américas, La Isabela, and Punta Cana.

Comparison

The report on tourism flow in cumulative terms from January to October 2020 was 1,881,756 non-resident visitors, or 3,478,147 fewer travelers (-64.9%) compared to the same period the previous year, it indicates, but this is due to the impact of the coronavirus. The same behavior is observed in the other indicators, so the result of each month, when compared with the next one, gives an idea of the recovery that has been achieved and that is expected to improve more by 2021 if we manage to control the resurgence that is glimpsed in receiving nations of great importance for this market.