Cuba, Dominican Republic Visitor Numbers Up in First Quarter

The Dominican Republic appears to have a slight edge over Cuba in terms of 2010 tourist arrivals thus far. From January through March, the D.R. welcomed more than 1.2 million visitors, up 3.9 percent over the same period in 2009, according to Caribbean Tourism Organization statistics.

The bulk of visitors came from the U.S., South America and within the Caribbean. Visitor figures in 2009 topped 3.9 million, up 3.9 percent over 2008.

Cuba’s tourist arrivals totaled 1.05 million from January through April, more than twice the number recorded for the same period in 2009, according to Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero, who announced the figures at a tourism fair in Havana.

Cuba’s arrivals were accomplished despite a decline in the first two months of 2010. Arrivals were down 4.7 percent and 2.1 percent in January and February, respectively, according to CTO.

Canada was Cuba’s largest source market in the four-month period. Travel also increased by Cuban emigrants visiting from the U.S. and tourists from South America, according to Marrero.

Traffic from Europe declined over the same period in 2009. Marrero said that Spain was the only country showing any growth to Cuba. In 2009, Cuban visitor arrivals jumped 3.5 percent over 2008, totaling 2.4 million visitors.