Luis Molina, executive director of Sans Souci Ports that manages the Santo Domingo cruise port, says that the arrival of 34 ships and 70,000 cruise ship passengers for the 2007-2008 cruise ship season proves the popularity of the Santo Domingo stop. He broke down cruise ship arrivals as 38% from Latin America, 33% European, 27% from US and Canada, and 2% from other countries. He said that the Port of Santo Domingo is now regarded as a modern terminal that is prepared to receive tourists from all over the world. The cruise season lasts seven months. The next season begins in October and will end in April 2009. Molina forecast 82,000 cruise ship passengers would visit Santo Domingo for the October 08-April 09 season, on board 40 ships that have been scheduled to dock. This would be 12,000 more than this year. He said their goal is to make Santo Domingo Port “the most modern port in the region.”
According to a study by the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, each tourist that arrived in Santo Domingo via cruise ship spent an average of US$80.00 per person. He estimates that overall the tourists spent RD$191.5 million during the 2007-2008 season, a boom for the city of Santo Domingo.