Dominican Republic recovers 80 percent of tourists; expects a high summer
The Dominican Republic recovered 80% of the tourists it received before the pandemic in June and the country is expected to register levels similar to those of the summer of 2019, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
The Caribbean country, which has its main economic activity in tourism, received 468,367 non-resident passengers in June, 19.6% lower than in the same month of 2019, a year used for comparison because in June 2020 the borders were closed.
“All the numbers reflect that July is going to be the same as July 2019”, said Tourism Minister David Collado at a press conference.
In June, hotel occupancy was 57%, although only 83% of the rooms available in the country and a total of 87 of the 100 hotels were open.
Facing the summer, the level of air ticket reservations is “more than 90%” compared to the same dates two years ago, according to the minister.
“We are projecting to reach half a million tourists in July. The Dominican Republic is recovering firmly and solidly in tourism, which is its main industry”, said Collado.
In the first semester, the Dominican Republic received 1.9 million tourists, which represents 53.2% of arrivals in 2019, although the sector’s indicators are recovering month by month.
In June, tourists from the United States accounted for 75.55% of all, according to the minister, due to the high percentage of vaccination in that country and that consequently, coming to the Dominican Republic does not represent a health risk.
The minister also said that more than a million COVID-19 tests were carried out in hotels when tourists leave, and the positivity is less than 1%.