Which Caribbean island has the fastest growth in tourism? One particular island has already reached 6 million visitors in 2024, almost as many as they got in 2019. That country is the Dominican Republic.
By The Numbers
The Dominican Republic saw 923,736 visitors in June, a 9 percent increase from 2023 and a full 22 percent higher than 2022. Just under 760,000 of these people came in by air, a 7 percent increase over 2023. The Dominican Republic has 8 international airports to serve these passengers. Most of the rest came in on cruise ships.
With over 10 million visitors in 2023, the Dominican Republic was the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean. David Collado, the Dominican Republic Tourism Minister, predicts 11.4 million total visitors by the end of 2024.
Why Is The Dominican Republic So Successful?
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Like most tourism-dependent economies, the Dominican Republic was badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has bounced back and then some, partly due to the Ministry of Tourism spending the pandemic shutdown planning for the future and developing effective destination marketing, targeting remote workers, and attracting investment.
They are also working on developing sustainable tourism initiatives that appeal to the luxury market. The popular destination city of Punta Cana is striving to become a zero-waste destination, but there are also initiatives to spread tourism out beyond the city and highlight other destinations, such as the capital Santo Domingo, or the nature haven of Samaná.
What About the Future?
It’s likely that tourism in the Dominican Republic will only continue to grow. This might lead to concerns about over-tourism (people worried about crowds should consider exploring the deep southwest of Barahona or the mountain resort of Jarabacoa).