The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, informed that on December 26, the DR received its 10 millionth visitor in 2023, marking an unprecedented milestone for tourism in the country and the entire region.
Collado indicated that the long-awaited figure was reached for the first time in the country’s history thanks to the strategic work developed jointly by the public and private sectors, as well as the vision of President Luis Abinader and the confidence placed by the President in the Ministry’s professionals to carry out an unprecedented task.
According to the figures presented at an event held at the Punta Cana International Airport, the DR managed to surpass 10 million visitors thanks to the arrival of 7,863,542 tourists who arrived by air, plus some 2,168,209 cruise passengers who came to the country by sea.
“Reaching 10 million tourists between air and cruise ships is a fact that should fill the whole country with pride, regardless of political flags, because each of these visitors are friends of the country that contribute to development, employment, agriculture, construction and the entire productive apparatus of the country continues to grow,” said Collado.
MITUR presented the figures of the economic impact that tourism has had this year in the DR, with more than 620 thousand direct jobs and an estimated generation of foreign exchange of more than 11 billion dollars.
DR is the country that has grown the most in tourist arrivals in the entire Caribbean region from 2019 to date, going from 6.4 million visitors to more than 10 million; it has also been recognized on several occasions by different international organizations as the number 1 country in terms of tourism recovery post COVID.
The 10 millionth passenger was celebrated in a symbolic act at Terminal B of the Punta Cana International Airport, with a flight coming from the United States, which is the number one country in terms of tourist arrivals to the DR.
American Ariana Guilak, who is visiting the country for the first time, is the 10 millionth Visitor and arrived on American Airlines flight AA 2638 from Miami, Florida, where 90% of the arriving passengers are non-resident foreigners.
The tourist Ariana Guilak was received by the Minister of Tourism David Collado, the businessman Frank Rainieri, among other personalities of the tourism sector.
Simultaneously, activities to celebrate the 10 million visitors were carried out at the Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo and the Cibao International Airport in Santiago, as well as at the cruise ports of Amber Cove and Taino Bay in Puerto Plata.
Source: Mitur.com
