The Dominican Republic is the leading destination in the Caribbean for sun seeking tourists from Canada – second only to Mexico overall. As reported, over 837,000 Canadians visited the Dominican Republic in 2017. Indeed, Canada was a major source for tourists well before the United States tourists also made the country their most popular Caribbean sun destination.
“The Dominican Republic is extremely proud to be the premier vacation destination in the Caribbean for Canadians,” says Cosette Garcia, director of the Tourism Office of the Dominican Republic in Montreal. “Our arrival numbers grew last year by 3.9% over 2016 with a difference of 65,265 additional Canadians and we anticipate an even better year in 2018,” she explains.
For many years, we have invested in infrastructure to maintain our excellent tourism product. Today we have new roads, expanded ports and improved air terminals. This investment has clearly paid off as Canadians continue to visit our country in growing numbers.”
With new hotel openings and increased room inventory, new flight routes to the country from Canadian cities and the extremely accessible cruise terminal, Amber Cover in Puerto Plata, the DR was seamlessly able to accommodate the influx of tourist arrivals in 2017. It has never been easier for Canadians to visit, highlights García.
She said visiting Canadians would find new developments in the historic area of Santo Domingo. “We have been restoring the Colonial City of Santo Domingo for a few years now and as that job nears completion, we look forward to welcoming more guests to the first and oldest city in the New World. Visitors can wander on the cobblestone street of Calle de las Damas, tour the house of the son of Christopher Columbus and visit The Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, the oldest cathedral in the Americas.”
According to the latest figures from the Central Bank, the arrival of tourists to the Dominican Republic increased by 3.9% in January, with the arrival of 566,797 non-residents overall.
The number of arrivals from North America continues to dominate with almost half of all tourist arrivals in January, 152,690 from the United States and 127,845 from Canada. The number of visitors from outside North America increased by 6% over the previous year.
Income from tourism increased by 6.8% to US$7,177.5 million in January this year.
28 February 2018
