
We will show that the Dominican Republic is the best tourist destination in the world, said President Luis Abinader when attending the July monthly briefing of the Ministry of Tourism on the recovery of the industry. Tourism Minister David Collado announced the 572,644 arrivals in July are 24% more than the visitors that had come in June 2021.
Presenting results for the first seven months of the year, Tourism Minister David Collado proudly highlighted that the total of air arrivals is 97% of the tourists that came in pre-pandemic July 2019 (591,348).
In total, the country has received 2,470,282 visitors between January and July 2021. Overall, this is still far from the 4,166,646 tourists that arrived in the same period of 2019.
The Ministry of Tourism says the numbers of tourists are clear indicators the industry is recovering. The Ministry says that bookings for November and December are 22% above the levels in 2019.
During the event held at the Hotel Embajador, the Ministry stressed that the arrivals from January to July are more than arrivals in 2020. Dominican airports were closed to all but repatriation flights from March to July 2020.
In the first six months of the year the sector contributed, in foreign exchange, more than US$2.4 billion.
Collado said the increase in arrivals is in part because airlines are adding more frequencies. He mentioned Iberia from Madrid that has increased its weekly frequencies from four at the start of the year to 11 in July.
Tourism data is now compared by the Tourism Intelligence System (SITUR) at the Ministry of Tourism, directed by Technical Deputy Minister Jacqueline Mora. “In July, we all have won”, observed Mora. She said the cruise ship sector is beginning to recover with the arrival of four ships in July, bringing 14,000 tourists from the United States and another 5,000 on the ferry from Puerto Rico.
Speaking at the end of the presentation, President Abinader listed some of the main initiatives and achievements promoted by the Tourism Cabinet he presides.
“We can demonstrate that with bold policies and a collective effort we have been able, not only to withstand the impact of Covid-19, but we have managed to best position our country in the entire Caribbean and Latin American region,” he remarked. He stressed that tourism means employment, foreign exchange and local product sourcing. He highlighted the importance of the sector for the country’s goals for growth and sustainable development.
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El Dia
3 August 2021