According to the Regional Center of Sustainable Economic Strategies (CREES), between 2010 and 2016 tourism was responsible for 79% of the service exports of the Dominican Republic. CREES reports that over the last 10 years, the number of hotel rooms has increased by 18% and the number of jobs in the sector by 67.4%. CREES highlights that tourism is one of the most important economic services in the country, stimulating domestic consumption.
However, among the weaknesses and challenges facing the sector are violence, homicides and “the low level of confidence in the police services”.
Citing the Report on the Competitiveness of Travel and Tourism 2107 published by the World Economic Forum, CREES highlights that the number of hotel rooms has been increasing since the middle of the 1980s, when there were 5,394 rooms. Current statistics indicate that there are now 74,981 hotel rooms.
In the last 36 years income from tourism has increased by an average of 10.7% each year and by 2016 income was around US$6,723.3 million.
There are now 88,777 direct employees in the tourism sector and when indirect employees are added, the number increases to 315,153.
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World Economic Forum
Hoy
3 May 2017
