Dominican Republic closes 2025 with its best tourism year in history

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Republic ended December with a historic milestone for tourism, registering nearly 960,000 air arrivals in a single month, the highest monthly figure ever recorded. This represents growth of more than 10% year-on-year, consolidating the country’s position as the leading tourism destination in the Caribbean.

This performance significantly surpasses pre-pandemic levels, when monthly arrivals averaged around 667,000 visitors, despite today’s challenging global context marked by geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown, and changes in international travel patterns. With these results, the Dominican Republic closed the year with 11.6 million visitors, the best performance in the history of national tourism.

The 2025 results confirm that Dominican tourism is no longer in a recovery phase, but rather operating under a resilient and diversified growth model. Despite a slowdown in the U.S. market and difficulties in some traditional source countries, arrivals accelerated in the final quarter of the year, supported by improved air connectivity and efficient demand management.

Hotel expansion was absorbed efficiently, with the addition of approximately 2,500 new rooms, while maintaining strong occupancy rates and sustained investor confidence across the sector.

Cruise tourism and international recognition

Cruise tourism continued to consolidate as a strategic pillar, with the country receiving 2.8 million cruise passengers during the year. The arrival of larger vessels and the expansion of international itineraries reinforced the Dominican Republic’s leadership in the Caribbean cruise market, while highlighting the modernization and operational capacity of its port infrastructure.

This performance has been accompanied by consistent leadership from Tourism Minister David Collado, whose management has received widespread recognition from international tourism executives and regional authorities. Leaders from major hotel groups and tourism companies have highlighted the country’s strategic vision, execution capacity, and strong public-private collaboration.

At the institutional level, this recognition was reinforced when UN Tourism named David Collado Minister of Tourism for the Americas, positioning the Dominican Republic as a continental benchmark for effective tourism policy.

A historic year for Dominican tourism

The close of the year confirms that Dominican tourism has reached a stage of institutional maturity, driven by clear strategy, consistent execution, and close coordination with the private sector. The Dominican Republic not only finished 2025 strong—it finished making history, with record-breaking visitor numbers and recognized leadership across the Americas.