A record number of travelers entered the Dominican Republic through Las Americas International Airport in 1997. Passengers arriving by way of the Santo Domingo airport reached 1,206,877, 10% more than those arriving in 1996, or 113,457 more than last year. The governor of the airport, José Guillermo Sued, attributed the increase in the efforts of the Fernández government to provide better services to travelers, the climate of peace and tranquillity of the nation, and the excellent work carried out by Minister of Tourism Félix Jiménez, together with the hotel sector and private investors. The airport totals reflect a large number of tourists that are coming to Santo Domingo to take a Caribbean cruise from here. This December a new record in arrivals was also established. In December, the number of arrivals was 142,824, a 20.1% increment over the 118,900 that arrived in 1996. Airport officials had forecast a record month, and expected 140,000 arrivals. The figure includes 80,605 Dominicans and 62,219 foreigners. From 17 to 23 of December, the average number of daily arrivals was 6,000, reaching a peak on 22 December with 7,657 arrivals. American Airlines transported the most travelers in December with 57,402, followed by Copa with 8,146; American Eagle with 7,201; Pan Am, 6,480; Air France, 6,416; Air Atlantic, 6,345; TWA, 5,561; Iberia, 5,558; Continental, 4,907; Aeropostal, 4,539; ALM, 2,940; Air Europa Dominicana, 2,503; Condor, 2,357; Lacsa, 2,172; Alitalia, 1,235; LTU, 1,089; Martinair, 1,064; Cubana, 697; Aces, 580; and Guadeloupe Air, 516 passengers. The statistical report of the airport indicates that stats for 1997 fell short of those of 1996 only in January and February. Month by month statistics were as follows compared with the 1996 stats in parenthesis: January 88,345 (93,300) February 82,717 (91,279) March 101,841 (85,652) April 84,580 (84,327) May 88,990 (74,415) June 101,771 (89,011) July 126,427 (119,630) August 116,537 (105,678) September 89,143 (75,605) October 87,854 (75,757) November 95,848 (83,614) December 142,824 (83,614)
