Frank Rainieri, former president of the National Hotel Association, said that of the 11 million tourists that visited the Caribbean last year, two million came to the Dominican Republic, or 18% of the total. He said that according to World Tourism Organization forecasts, the number of tourists visiting the area could reach 30 million tourists by year 2010. He said that if the present trend is maintained, the D.R. could receive seven million visitors by then. Rainieri, who directs the Punta Cana Group, a hotel and airport consortium, said experts predict there will be 47,000 hotel rooms in the Dominican Republic by year 2005, up from the present 35,000. In 1996, the industry reaped 39% of the total of hard currency revenue.
