The Dominican Republic has set a new record for tourist arrivals to the island for the first three months of 2024.
Data presented by Tourism Minister David Collado on Tuesday showed 3,225,484 people visited the Spanish-speaking island.
“We continue to reach spectacular figures: 1,104,270 visitors last month, which gives us the magic number 3,226,484 in the first three months of this year, something never seen in the history of Dominican tourism,” said Collado.
The visitor numbers represent a 13 per cent growth when compared to March last year and 24 per cent more than 2019.
Visitors from the United States represented 49 per cent of visitors while Canadians were 23 per cent.
Sixty-one per cent of tourists visited Punta Cana.
Meanwhile, several airlines are set to increase their routes and flight frequencies to the Dominican Republic over the coming months.
President of the Civil Aviation Board (JAC), Dr José Ernesto Marte Piantini told members at a recent plenary session that charter airline Orbest requested for special permission to carry out a flight every Friday on the Lisbon/Samaná/Lisbon route from June 28 to September 20, 2024.
President of the Civil Aviation Board, Dr José Ernesto Marte Piantini. Photo: Office of the President.
He said Air Canada requested to operate 26 cargo flights on the Toronto / Mexico / Quito / Punta Cana / Toronto route, from May 2 to October 24, 2024, with a frequency of one flight every Thursday.
The airline is also seeking authorisation to fly on the Ottawa/Punta Cana/Ottawa route, from March 31 to April 28, with a frequency of one flight every Friday and Sunday.
Piantini said Air Europa has filed a request to carry out seven flights per week under a codeshare with Turkish Airlines and Etihad Airways on the Madrid/Santo Domingo/Madrid route, from March 31 to October 26, 2024.
Sunwing Airlines has requested to operate 94 passenger flights, from April 1 to May 22, 2024, to and from the Dominican Republic on different routes in Canada, including Toronto, Quebec and Vancouver.
