Brazil, which is up to 175 times larger than the average island, received 3.6 million travelers last year; however, Quisqueya, which territorially represents only 0.57% of the South American country, received more than seven million people. Colombia, on the other hand, registered the entry of 4.4 million visitors during the same period.
These numbers of foreigners also translated into income for the tourism sector. It is in this sense that the Dominican Republic also surpassed economies twice its size and positioned itself as the third country with the most dollars generated by tourism, surpassing Brazil by almost 50% and Argentina by more than 130%. It was even higher than the sum of five Central American countries.
For the executive vice-president of the National Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores), Andrés Marranzini, this is due to the tourist offer, which is diversifying every day with new hotel options, activities such as horseback riding and golf courses.
“We as a sector have made an effort in recent years to increase the daily expenditure of each tourist. Something that helps us to increase that spending is the incorporation of complementary activity within the points of encounter with the tourist, that is, where he can go to spend that money, the amount of services he receives during his process of participation within the tourist ecosystem,” he told elDinero.
According to Marranzini, the strategy is to raise the level of the quality tourist destination. This is achieved through hotel investments, which he assures are being made.
Central America
As detailed in a report by the Central American Monetary Council (Secmca), during 2022, exports of services from Central America and the Dominican Republic (CARD) registered a “good performance”, showing an inter-annual increase of 30.9%.
As explained, the improvement was due to higher income from travel (tourism) with an increase of 59.3% compared to 2021, among other sectors. As for tourism, foreign exchange income went from US$8,691.3 million in 2021 to US$13,843.8 million in 2022, with the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and El Salvador being the main destinations in the region.
In fact, the half-island exceeded the combined revenues of five of the seven Central American countries by more than US$1.2 billion. While the Caribbean nation reported US$8.406 billion, Costa Rica (US$3.137 billion), El Salvador (US$1.864 billion), Guatemala (US$987 million), Honduras (US$540 million), and Nicaragua (US$595 million) together reached US$7.123 billion. In total, the group of countries totaled US$13.844 billion as of December 2022, according to Secmca data.
In the case of Panama, according to data from the Directorate of Planning and the Department of Statistics, the foreign exchange income registered in the period from January to December 2022, was 4,720.6 million balboas. With the same currency value, in dollars it amounts to US$4,722.9 million.
Mexico, on the other hand, obtained the first place for income in the tourism sector in all of Latin America. The amount amounted to US$26,346.90 million, surpassing the sum of the next three places on the list, which includes Chile, the Dominican Republic and Colombia.
Source: Mitur.gob.do
