The Tourism Promotion Office (OPT) of the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Mitur) for the Italian market has confirmed its participation in the next edition of the BIT (Milan International Tourism Exchange), to be held from April 10 to 12.
The presence of the Dominican Republic at this event, which is one of the most important in the European nation, confirms the country’s interest in the Italian market, one of the most important in this continent, and also represents a good opportunity to make contact with potential buyers, as well as to keep abreast of new developments.
On this occasion, Colonial Tours, an Italian-Dominican DMC that has been working in the Italian market for years, will be present at Fieramilanocity, Hall 4 stand A104 as co-exhibitor.
The Dominican Republic is betting on a recovery of tourism in the main international markets and this is confirmed by the positive data for the destination.
In 2021, some 4,995,412 tourists from all over the world chose this Caribbean destination.
2022 also started with the best auspices: in February alone, the country received 566,235 non-resident foreign tourists, registering a +268%, compared to February 2021 and +101% compared to February 2020.
More than 60% is composed of American tourists (proximity market) while 31% corresponds to Europe, including Italy; 9% corresponds to tourists arriving from South America.
Other indicators showing the recovery of tourism in the Dominican Republic are hotel occupancy and room bookings. In March, the attendance rate reached 90%, surpassing that of 2021.
The country’s five main tourist destinations (La Romana Bayahibe, Punta Cana, Puerto Plata, Samaná and Santo Domingo) registered occupancy rates above 70%. In addition, the
number of room reservations at the beginning of March 2022 is even higher than in the period prior to the pandemic.
Neyda Garcia, OPT director for this market has expressed, “We hope that Italians will continue to travel to our country, because the Dominican Republic is considered one of the safest tourist destinations in the Caribbean area.”
“We hope that much attention will be paid to the great natural heritage that this island nation offers, composed of isolated places to reconnect with nature, such as parks, extensive beaches, lagoons, bays, forests and the possibility of an “active” vacation dedicated to sports and healthy lifestyle, easy to enjoy a green vacation in extreme safety,” he stressed.
“Dominican Republic has always bet on family tourism, although before the pandemic there was a lot of focus on incentive tourism, and the luxury segment, as well as, in sports, linked to golf, thanks to the numerous greens on the island, without forgetting ecotourism, a very growing trend.
Let’s remember that it is easy to spot whales in our seas in a few months of the year, an exciting spectacle. From the data we have, corresponding to a market survey, we can affirm that more than 4 out of 5 tourists want to do ecotourism in the areas of Samanà and Barahona, while 84% love our beaches. Also interesting is the number of repeat visitors: 91% of those who have already been to the Dominican Republic say they want to return for a vacation,” concludes Neyda García.
The Dominican Republic was considered a success story in responsible tourism management. Several international organizations, including the World Tourism Organization, have praised the country’s ability to respond and relaunch tourism based on rigorous safety protocols that protect the health of visitors and locals.
In addition, the tourism model has been rethought to make it more sustainable, with the signing of important environmental protection agreements, a recovery plan for the island’s beaches and a greater focus on the digitalization of services. Among these, the introduction of the e-ticket, an electronic entry and exit form that replaced the old
electronic entry and exit form that replaced the paper forms that travelers had to fill out to enter the country.
