Dominican Republic Posts Record First Quarter Tourism Growth

The Dominican Republic recorded an all-time high in visitor growth between January and March of 2012, with 1.7 million tourists, a 9 percent increase compared with the same period in 2011, according to Francisco Javier Garcia, the country’s minister of tourism. Tourist arrivals from the U.S. grew by 14 percent over the same period in 2012, Garcia said.

"Some factors for the increase are our country's natural features, our gastronomy and the beauty,” he said, adding that international tourists also like “the way Dominicans treat tourists.”

Garcia said infrastructure improvements are a catalyst in the country’s tourism growth, as the Dominican Republic is spending more than $12 million in 58 tourism projects, initiatives including the construction of Atlantic Boulevard, which will connect the country’s North Coast to the Samana Peninsula, and the Northeast Highway, which will link the historic colonial zone in the capital city of Santo Domingo with the Punta Cana tourist region on the country’s east coast.