The Ministry of Tourism reports that travel from Europe was significantly up in 2011. Despite the economic crisis affecting most European economies, 2011 ended up being a year of recovery for Italian travel to the Dominican Republic. After three years of decline, 2011 showed a 5% increase in Italian arrivals. Neyda Garcia, director of the Dominican Ministry of Tourism Office in Milan, said that 99,822 Italian visitors came in 2011, up from 94,952 in 2010. This was significant after the declines in travel during 2010, 2009 and 2008. She believes more emphasis needs to be made on ecotourism and nature tourism to attract increasing numbers of Italian tourists.