The Dominican Republic is the leading tourism destination in the Caribbean, said Renso Herrera, local representative for Lomé IV Convention when speaking at the Lome IV Fifth Meeting of the Joint Executive Committee of the Regional Program for Tourism Development held here this week. He highlighted how in some 20 years, tourism has replaced money crops (sugar, coffee, cocoa and tobacco) as leading revenue producer for the nation. He said that tourism revenues last year were over US$2.3 million. An estimated 2.5 million tourists visited. The tourism sector contributed 20% to the Gross Domestic Product. There are 45,000 hotel rooms in the DR, and an estimated 10,000 more under construction, half of which will be in operation for the coming winter season.
