Mitur: majority of hotel rooms operate with valid licenses

Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) reported that more than 75% of the country’s hotel rooms are operating with valid or pending licenses, according to updated data from the National Tourism Registry (RNT). While many small hotels still lag in renewing their permits, the ministry highlights that compliance is strong when measured by room capacity rather than by the number of establishments.

Official figures show that 63,730 out of 84,252 registered hotel rooms—75.6%—have up-to-date or in-process permits. Compliance is even higher among large hotels with 300 rooms or more, where 83% of rooms fall into this category, reflecting greater formalization in major resort properties. These large hotels represent the bulk of the Dominican tourism offering.

Mitur explains that the discrepancies between segments are linked to the modernization of the RNT, which began in late 2020 with the introduction of a digital, auditable system supported by physical inspections. Since then, the ministry has conducted more than 6,300 visits nationwide to update records, identify closed or remodeled hotels, and assist operators in regularizing their status. This effort has produced, for the first time, a reliable national inventory of hotel rooms.

Current records list 446 hotels, though some are temporarily or permanently closed. Small and medium-sized hotels show the lowest compliance: only 51.9% of their rooms have valid or in-process permits, while the rest belong to establishments with expired licenses, incomplete applications, or properties that never completed certification. Mitur notes that some unlicensed hotels are not operating irregularly—they may be closed, under renovation, or transitioning to new brands.

Despite the remaining challenges, the digitized system has reduced permit processing times by 70% and established Mitur as a leader in the government’s Zero Bureaucracy initiative, enabling operators to track applications online.

When comparing these figures with earlier reports showing that most hotels lack licenses when counted individually, Mitur’s data clarifies the discrepancy: large hotels make up only 107 establishments but provide 75.8% of all rooms. Of these, more than 53,000 rooms have valid or pending licenses. Meanwhile, the 339 small and medium hotels—where paperwork delays are more common—represent only 24.1% of total capacity.

In short, the sector appears orderly when measured by room count, but compliance weakens when analyzed by the number of individual hotel units.