The Wall Street brokerage firm reports on the increased tourism flows of the
country. Bear Stearns states:
?The sun has shined on the Dominican Republic?s tourism industry since the third
quarter 2002. Foreign tourist arrivals rose by 24.9% year over year in July,
which brought the total year-to-date improvement over last year to 21%. Almost
1.7 million foreign tourists visited the Dominican Republic between January and
July, and August is expected to be another solid month: The Dominican Republic
hosted the Panamerican Games between August 1-17, drawing thousands of athletes,
media and spectators. Meanwhile, increased tourist arrivals have led to higher
hotel occupancy rates (73.8% in first half 2003 compared with 64.1% in first
half 2002) and higher foreign exchange inflows, with tourism revenues expanding
by more than 18% during first half 2003 (US$1.61 billion in first half 2003
compared with US$1.36 billion in first half 2002.) For more of the report, see
http://dr1.com/news/2003/DR_Sov Update_082103.pdf