Tourists from the United States and Canada make up the bulk of travel to the DR with 57.56%. Travel from the US was up by 4,393 travelers during the period while Europeans account for 29.92%. South America has increased its market share with 9.32%. Central America and the Caribbean (primarily Puerto Rico) contributed 2.96%.
The Central Bank highlights the importance of South America as an emerging market. The numbers for Jan-Feb from South America were: Argentina (9,129), Brazil (5,664), Chile (2,714), Colombia (1,834) and Peru (1,010). The South American market was up 41.41% so far this year, with 20,005 more travelers in January-February. This compensates for the 7,407 fewer passengers coming from Europe.
Emerging markets like Russia (5,628 more travelers) and Poland (1,473 travelers) fared better than the European average for the first two months of the year.