131 Dominican Republic Tourism Statistics for 2026

How many tourists visit the Dominican Republic each year?

More every year since 2021. Non-resident air arrivals have set a new record each year from 2022, and in 2025 they were more than a third above the 2019 level. Arrivals fell by more than three-fifths in 2020 and recovered within two years.

View data table

Non-resident air arrivals to the Dominican Republic, 2015 to 2025, in millions. Cruise passengers are not included.

Period	Value
2015	5.60m
2016	5.96m
2017	6.19m
2018	6.57m
2019	6.45m
2020	2.41m
2021	4.99m
2022	7.16m
2023	8.06m
2024	8.54m
2025	8.86m

• In 2024, 8,535,701 non-residents arrived by air, and 7,125,362 of them were foreigners. (BCRD (arrivals series), Oct 2026)
• Non-resident air arrivals were 8,058,663 in 2023, up 12.5% on 7,163,418 in 2022. (BCRD (arrivals series), Oct 2026)
• Arrivals fell to 2,405,315 in 2020 and recovered to 4,994,313 in 2021. (BCRD (arrivals series), Oct 2026)
• In 2019, 6,446,036 non-residents arrived by air, 1.9% fewer than the 6,568,888 of 2018. (BCRD (arrivals series), Oct 2026)
• Arrivals grew from 4,124,543 in 2010 to 5,599,859 in 2015. (BCRD (arrivals series), Oct 2026)
• Non-resident air arrivals first passed one million in 1988, with 1,116,364. In 1978 they were 304,410. (BCRD (arrivals series), Oct 2026)
• Non-resident air arrivals rose by 325,008 in 2025, and arrivals of foreigners by 216,382, or 3.0%. (BCRD (economic report 2025), Mar 2026)

Air arrivals count non-residents arriving by plane: foreigners and Dominicans who live abroad. Cruise passengers are a separate measure. Until January 2021 the count came from paper immigration forms; from September 2021 it comes from the mandatory electronic entry form, compiled by the Ministry of Tourism, so years before and after 2021 are not strictly comparable. Figures from 2022 are weighted estimates. Growth rates and the comparison with 2019 are our calculations from the BCRD series.

How many visitors are Dominicans who live abroad?

About one in six non-resident air arrivals is a Dominican who lives abroad, most of them coming home to see family. They stay about twice as long as foreign tourists and rarely use hotels.

• Foreigners 7.34m
• Dominicans living abroad 1.52m

• 1,518,964 Dominicans living abroad arrived by air in 2025, 17.1% of non-resident air arrivals. (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)
• Dominicans living abroad made 1,088,417 air arrivals in 2019 and 1,410,338 in 2024. (BCRD (arrivals series), Oct 2026)
• 9,882,365 air passengers arrived in 2025 in all, including 1,021,656 residents returning home. (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)
• Nearly half the Dominicans living abroad who arrived in 2025 came to visit friends or relatives (743,700), and 107,170 stayed in a hotel. (BCRD (visitor profile), Aug 2026)
• Dominicans living abroad spent an average of US$635.06 per stay in 2025 and stayed 15.37 nights, against US$816.74 and 16.06 nights in 2019. (BCRD (diaspora spending survey), Nov 2026)
• In January to September 2026 they spent US$718.72 per stay and stayed 15.30 nights, on provisional figures. (BCRD (diaspora spending survey), Nov 2026)
• December is their busiest month: 220,168 Dominicans living abroad arrived in December 2025. (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)

Non-residents are everyone arriving by air who does not live in the Dominican Republic, so they include Dominicans who live abroad. Spending by Dominicans living abroad is per stay, while foreigners' spending is per day, so the two cannot be compared directly. The 2019 count came from paper immigration forms and later years from the electronic entry form introduced in 2021. Shares are our calculations.

Where do visitors to the Dominican Republic come from?

North America sends about six in ten foreign air visitors, and Canada is the second market after the United States. Argentina has grown fastest and is now third. Russia, a large market before 2022, has almost vanished.

1. 1 United States 3.24m
2. 2 Canada 1.14m
3. 3 Argentina 440k
4. 4 Colombia 400k
5. 5 Puerto Rico 226k
6. 6 United Kingdom 196k
7. 7 Chile 146k
8. 8 Brazil 141k
9. 9 Spain 133k

• By country of residence, 1,144,242 foreign arrivals in 2025 lived in Canada, 440,202 in Argentina, 399,897 in Colombia, 226,462 in Puerto Rico and 196,005 in the UK. (BCRD (arrivals by residence), Aug 2026)
• By region of residence in 2025, 4,544,280 foreign arrivals came from North America, 1,391,145 from South America, 920,547 from Europe, 454,546 from Central America and the Caribbean and 24,254 from Asia. (BCRD (arrivals by residence), Aug 2026)
• Argentina was the third-largest market in 2025 and the fastest-growing: arrivals rose 62.5%, or 169,325, the largest rise of any market. Colombia added 64,084 and Mexico 46,159. (BCRD (economic report 2025), Mar 2026)
• Arrivals from Europe fell 1.7% in 2025. (BCRD (economic report 2025), Mar 2026)
• By nationality, 2,706,980 US citizens arrived by air in 2025, 933,196 Canadians, 450,501 Argentines, 188,411 Britons, 128,792 Spaniards and 121,053 Germans. (BCRD (arrivals by nationality), Aug 2026)
• In 2019, 2,030,257 US citizens, 865,927 Canadians, 189,211 Argentines and 217,082 Russians arrived by air. (BCRD (arrivals by nationality 2019), Jan 2020)
• Only 22,949 Russian citizens arrived by air in 2025. (BCRD (arrivals by nationality), Aug 2026)

Markets are shown two ways. Country of residence counts where visitors live; nationality counts passports. The two give different totals, since many US and Canadian residents hold other passports, so they should not be mixed. Both cover foreigners only, not Dominicans living abroad. Residence figures are from BCRD's August 2026 spreadsheet; its earlier annual report gave slightly different shares. BCRD lists Puerto Rico separately from the United States. The 2019 figures come from paper immigration forms and later years from the electronic entry form introduced in 2021, so the comparison crosses a change of method.

Is tourism to the Dominican Republic still growing in 2026?

Yes, and faster than in 2025. Air arrivals, cruise passengers and receipts all rose in 2026, with Colombia, Spain and Canada among the fastest-growing markets. All 2026 figures are provisional.

View data table

Non-resident air arrivals by month, January to September 2026, in thousands. Provisional figures.

Period	Value
Jan	826k
Feb	824k
Mar	954k
Apr	799k
May	744k
Jun	817k
Jul	921k
Aug	725k
Sep	534k

• Foreigners made 6,025,845 of the air arrivals in January to September 2026, up 9.7% on 5,490,635 a year earlier. (BCRD (arrivals 2026), Oct 2026)
• March 2026 brought 953,718 non-resident air arrivals, against 819,976 in March 2025. Easter fell in early April 2026 and mid-April 2025, which lifts the March comparison. (BCRD (arrivals 2026), Oct 2026)
• Cruise passengers made 2,085,952 arrivals in January to September 2026 on 698 ship calls, against 1,991,710 a year earlier. (BCRD (cruise arrivals 2026), Oct 2026)
• By nationality, Canadians made 767,782 air arrivals in January to September 2026, up 14.2%, and US citizens 2,198,700, up 4.5%. Colombians rose 24.1% and Spaniards 16.5%. (BCRD (arrivals by nationality 2026), Oct 2026)
• Argentine arrivals rose 12.9% to 391,176, British 8.3% to 153,960 and French 14.2% to 128,949. Russian citizens made 16,814 arrivals. (BCRD (arrivals by nationality 2026), Oct 2026)
• Tourism receipts were US$6,709.8 million in January to June 2026, up US$885.0 million (15.2%), which BCRD links to a 7.9% rise in total visitors. (BCRD (economic report H1 2026), Sep 2026)
• Hotels, bars and restaurants grew 5.8% in real terms in the first half of 2026. (BCRD (economic report H1 2026), Sep 2026)
• Foreign tourists spent US$173.96 a day and stayed 8.16 nights in January to September 2026. Daily spend in the first quarter, US$187.29, was the highest of any quarter in the series. (BCRD (visitor spending survey), Nov 2026)

All 2026 figures are provisional and subject to revision. Growth rates for January to September are our calculations from BCRD's monthly figures. BCRD has not yet published a nine-month total of air and cruise visitors combined. The Ministry of Tourism publishes its own counts, which differ slightly on cruise passengers; we use BCRD throughout.

Why do visitors come to the Dominican Republic, and what do they think of it?

Mostly for a beach holiday. Nearly nine in ten foreign visitors come for leisure, and half of those surveyed chose the country for its beaches. Almost all say they would come back.

• Leisure 86.0%
• Friends and relatives 9.1%
• Business 2.7%
• Conferences 1.3%
• Study and other 0.9%

• 86.0% of foreign air arrivals in 2025 came for leisure (6,311,841). 669,218 came to visit friends or relatives, 200,162 on business and 94,430 for conferences. (BCRD (visitor profile), Aug 2026)
• 30.0% of foreign air arrivals in 2025 were aged 50 or over, 25.4% were 36 to 49, 24.8% were 21 to 35 and 11.3% were under 13. (BCRD (visitor profile), Aug 2026)
• 51.9% of foreign air arrivals in 2025 were women. (BCRD (visitor profile), Aug 2026)
• 49.0% of foreign tourists surveyed in 2025 chose the Dominican Republic for its beaches, 16.3% for the climate, 11.4% for its hospitality and 4.7% for reasonable prices. (BCRD (visitor opinion survey), Mar 2026)
• 97.4% said they would choose the Dominican Republic again, and 99.8% that the trip met their expectations. (BCRD (visitor opinion survey), Mar 2026)
• 74.6% rated prices acceptable, 20.1% low or very low and 5.2% high or very high. (BCRD (visitor opinion survey), Mar 2026)
• Friends and relatives were how 38.0% first heard of the country, travel agencies 25.0% and the internet 25.0%. (BCRD (visitor opinion survey), Mar 2026)

Trip purpose, age and accommodation are declared by visitors on the electronic entry form; the shares are our calculations from BCRD counts and cover foreigners only. The opinion figures come from BCRD's survey of foreign visitors as they leave, published in its annual economic report.

How much do visitors spend in the Dominican Republic?

More each year. A foreign tourist's daily spend has risen by a quarter since 2019, but stays have shortened by more than half a night. Tourism receipts are about half as large again as in 2019.

View data table

Tourism receipts in the Dominican Republic, 2015 to 2025, in billion US dollars.

Period	Value
2015	6.12bn
2016	6.72bn
2017	7.18bn
2018	7.56bn
2019	7.47bn
2020	2.67bn
2021	5.70bn
2022	8.40bn
2023	9.75bn
2024	10.97bn
2025	11.32bn

• Foreign tourists spent US$136.24 a day in 2019 and stayed 8.52 nights. In 2010 they spent US$107.24 and stayed 9.14 nights. (BCRD (visitor spending survey), Nov 2026)
• Daily spend rose to US$153.28 in 2023 and US$167.75 in 2024. (BCRD (visitor spending survey), Nov 2026)
• In 1993, the first year of the series, a foreign tourist spent US$88.15 a day and stayed 10.17 nights. (BCRD (visitor spending survey), Nov 2026)
• Tourism receipts were US$7,471.5 million in 2019, fell to US$2,674.8 million in 2020 and passed the 2019 level in 2022, at US$8,395.3 million. (BCRD (tourism indicators), Oct 2026)
• Receipts were US$9,751.0 million in 2023 and US$5,697.1 million in 2021. (BCRD (tourism indicators), Oct 2026)
• Card payment data for the first eight months of 2026 show visitors from the US spending US$116 to US$223 a day: US$223 for independent travellers, US$196 for Punta Cana hotel guests and US$116 in greater Santo Domingo. (MITUR and Visa (card data), Oct 2026)
• Dominican residents travelling abroad by air spent an average of US$1,054.1 per trip in 2025 and stayed 12.4 nights. (BCRD (economic report 2025), Mar 2026)

Daily spend is per person per day in the country, from BCRD's survey of foreign non-residents, in nominal dollars. Receipts are BCRD's balance-of-payments income from visitors, also in nominal dollars; the 2025 figure is BCRD's later revision. A net travel balance cannot be worked out from the published tables. The card data are Ministry of Tourism and Visa estimates for US visitors only, a different measure from the BCRD survey. Changes since 2019 are our calculations.

What is tourism worth to the Dominican economy?

A great deal. Tourism earns more than three-quarters of the country's services exports and almost a quarter of all its foreign currency. Hotels, bars and restaurants have passed their pre-pandemic share of GDP.

View data table

Hotels, bars and restaurants as a share of Dominican GDP at current prices, 2018 to 2025, in per cent.

Period	Value
2018	8.01%
2019	7.99%
2020	4.72%
2021	6.11%
2022	7.28%
2023	7.97%
2024	8.29%
2025	8.33%

• Services exports earned US$14,434.8 million in 2025, and travel made up about 78% of them. Goods exports were US$15,957.6 million. (BCRD (balance of payments), Mar 2026)
• Foreign-currency income from goods exports, tourism, remittances, foreign investment and other services totalled US$47,291.5 million in 2025, and tourism supplied about 24% of it. (BCRD (balance of payments), Mar 2026)
• Nominal GDP was US$127,861 million in 2025, a preliminary figure, so tourism receipts equalled about 8.9% of GDP. (BCRD (GDP in dollars), Feb 2026)
• Hotels, bars and restaurants produced RD$657,560 million of value added in 2025, at current prices. (BCRD (national accounts), Sep 2026)
• Their share of GDP was 7.99% in 2019, fell to 4.72% in 2020 and was 8.29% in 2024. (BCRD (national accounts), Sep 2026)
• Hotels, bars and restaurants grew 3.5% in real terms in 2025, after 9.5% in 2024 and 10.1% in 2023. (BCRD (economic report 2025), Mar 2026)
• Tourist card fees raised RD$5.72 billion in 2025, up 5.1%, and the air departure tax RD$11.05 billion, up 4.1%. (BCRD (tourism tax revenue), Feb 2026)

Hotels, bars and restaurants is a national accounts activity: it includes restaurants serving residents and leaves out tourist transport and shopping, so it is not a tourism satellite account figure or a total economic impact. Figures from 2021 are preliminary. Receipts set against GDP compare a flow of foreign currency with GDP and are not tourism's share of value added. The shares of services exports, foreign-currency income and GDP are our calculations. The departure tax is paid by every passenger leaving by air, including residents, and the tax figures cover tourism levies only.

How many people work in Dominican tourism?

It depends on the measure. The hotel association, the Ministry of Tourism and the central bank's labour force survey each publish a different figure, counting different things, so the three should not be compared or added together.

View data table

People working in hotels, bars and restaurants by quarter, labour force survey, in thousands.

Period	Value
Q1 2019	328k
Q2 2019	337k
Q3 2019	356k
Q4 2019	364k
Q3 2020	253k
Q1 2025	428k
Q2 2025	433k
Q3 2025	428k
Q4 2025	467k
Q2 2026	475k

• The hotel association ASONAHORES estimates that hotels created 119,807 direct jobs in 2025 and 299,518 indirect jobs, 419,325 in all. (ASONAHORES (hotel jobs estimate), Oct 2026)
• ASONAHORES put direct hotel jobs at 100,716 in 2019 and 113,816 in 2024. (ASONAHORES (hotel jobs estimate), Oct 2026)
• The Ministry of Tourism estimates that up to 605,000 people depended directly on tourism in 2026, with more than 183,000 direct hotel jobs. (MITUR (jobs estimate), Aug 2026)
• The labour force survey counted 474,984 people working in hotels, bars and restaurants in the second quarter of 2026, 9.0% of all employed people. (BCRD (labour force survey), Sep 2026)
• Employment in hotels, bars and restaurants averaged about 438,900 in 2025, against about 346,200 in 2019. (BCRD (labour force survey), Sep 2026)
• It fell to 252,739 in the third quarter of 2020. (BCRD (labour force survey), Sep 2026)
• The survey counted 466,905 people in the sector in the last quarter of 2025. (BCRD (labour force survey), Sep 2026)

Three measures, never to be compared or added. ASONAHORES figures are the hotel association's estimates, published by BCRD, not a count, and its indirect jobs are modelled. The Ministry of Tourism does not state its method. The labour force survey counts people whose main job is in hotels, bars and restaurants, including restaurants serving residents. Annual averages and the share of employment are our calculations from BCRD's quarterly figures; 2026 figures are preliminary.

Which airports do visitors to the Dominican Republic fly into?

Punta Cana, by a wide margin. Nearly three in four foreign visitors land there, while Dominicans living abroad mostly use Santo Domingo and Santiago. Puerto Plata's airport now receives fewer foreign visitors than it did in 2000.

1. 1 Punta Cana 5.42m
2. 2 Las Américas (Santo Domingo) 1.91m
3. 3 Cibao (Santiago) 972k
4. 4 Puerto Plata 388k
5. 5 La Romana 109k
6. 6 El Catey (Samaná) 49k

• Punta Cana airport received 5,545,293 arriving passengers in 2025, 56.1% of all air arrivals, residents included. (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)
• Of non-resident arrivals in 2025, 5,418,362 landed at Punta Cana, 1,906,843 at Las Américas (Santo Domingo), 972,129 at Cibao (Santiago), 387,905 at Puerto Plata, 108,716 at La Romana and 49,294 at El Catey (Samaná). (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)
• Dominicans living abroad mostly flew into Las Américas (698,034) and Cibao (626,611) in 2025. (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)
• In 2019, 3,564,965 of the 7,126,857 air passengers who arrived landed at Punta Cana, half the total. (BCRD (arrivals 2019), Jan 2020)
• In 2024, Punta Cana received 5,078,426 of 9,519,909 arriving air passengers, 53.3%. (BCRD (arrivals 2024), Aug 2026)
• Foreign arrivals at Punta Cana have grown from 863,283 in 2000, when it took 35.0% of the total. Over the same years Puerto Plata airport fell from 745,236 to 348,491. (BCRD (tourism statistics 2025), Apr 2026)
• Foreign arrivals at Las Américas fell 9.8% in 2025, to 1,208,809 from 1,339,445. (BCRD (tourism statistics 2025), Apr 2026)
• In January to September 2026, Punta Cana took 70.8% of foreign arrivals (4,265,401), up 7.7%. Las Américas took 1,010,466 and Puerto Plata 286,737. (BCRD (tourist flow report), Oct 2026)
• Air passenger arrivals of all kinds reached 7,914,576 in January to September 2026, up 7.6%, and Punta Cana took 4,487,426, up 8.1%. (BCRD (arrivals 2026), Oct 2026)
• El Catey airport in Samaná received 64,734 arriving passengers in January to September 2026, up 83.5% and more than in all of 2025. (BCRD (arrivals 2026), Oct 2026)

Airport figures are arriving passengers only, not airport throughput, and include residents unless stated. Non-resident airport splits are BCRD's weighted estimates. Comparisons with 2019 and 2000 cross the change from paper immigration forms to the electronic entry form in 2021. 2026 figures are provisional. Shares are our calculations unless BCRD gives them.

How many hotel rooms are there, and how full are they?

The country has almost twice the hotel rooms it had in 2000. Occupancy dipped slightly in 2025 while the room count grew by more than 5%, then rose in the first half of 2026. Large resorts fill far better than small hotels.

View data table

Hotel rooms in the Dominican Republic, selected years 1980 to 2025, in thousands. 2020 is left out because many hotels closed.

Period	Value
1980	5.4k
2000	51.9k
2010	68.8k
2018	84.1k
2019	86.3k
2023	87.7k
2024	89.4k
2025	94.3k

• The hotel room stock grew from 5,394 rooms in 1980 to 51,916 in 2000, and stood at 86,279 in 2019. (BCRD (tourism indicators), Oct 2026)
• Hotels were 71.6% full on average in 2019. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2019), Jan 2020)
• Average hotel occupancy was 74.7% in 2023. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2023), Jan 2024)
• Average hotel occupancy was 76.4% in 2024. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2024), Jan 2025)
• In January to June 2026 there were 94,357 hotel rooms and occupancy averaged 81.5%, against 79.0% a year earlier. (BCRD (tourism indicators), Oct 2026)
• Hotels were 86.5% full in January to March 2026, against 83.9% in the same months of 2025, but below the 88.5% reached in early 2014. (BCRD (tourism indicators), Oct 2026)
• In January to September 2026 occupancy averaged 77.1%. It peaked at 88.1% in February and was lowest in September, at 59.6%. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2026), Oct 2026)
• By hotel size, resorts with more than 400 rooms were 78.7% full in 2025 and those with 301 to 400 rooms 78.9%, against 44.3% for hotels with 100 rooms or fewer. (BCRD (tourism statistics 2025), Apr 2026)

Room counts and occupancy are ASONAHORES estimates, published by BCRD, and cover hotels only, not villas or short-term rentals. Annual occupancy is the simple average of monthly rates, and each year is taken from its own release. The 2025 room count is the figure in BCRD's published annual report. Nine-month and quarterly averages are not comparable with full-year averages. 2026 figures are provisional.

How full are hotels in Punta Cana, Santo Domingo and the other resort areas?

The all-inclusive east coast runs nearly 30 points fuller than the capital. Punta Cana and La Romana hotels were more than four-fifths full in 2025, while Santo Domingo's occupancy has fallen every year since 2023. Samaná has grown fastest in 2026.

1. 1 La Romana and Bayahíbe 82.4%
2. 2 Punta Cana and Bávaro 81.6%
3. 3 Boca Chica and Juan Dolio 66.0%
4. 4 Puerto Plata 60.7%
5. 5 Samaná 57.1%
6. 6 Santo Domingo 53.5%
7. 7 Santiago 52.8%
8. 8 Sosúa and Cabarete 52.1%

• In 2025 hotel occupancy averaged 82.4% in La Romana and Bayahíbe, 81.6% in Punta Cana and Bávaro, 66.0% in Boca Chica and Juan Dolio, 60.7% in Puerto Plata, 57.1% in Samaná, 53.5% in Santo Domingo, 52.8% in Santiago and 52.1% in Sosúa and Cabarete. (BCRD (hotel occupancy), Jan 2026)
• In 2019 Santo Domingo hotels were 61.1% full and Punta Cana's 76.2%. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2019), Jan 2020)
• In 2023 Santo Domingo hotels were 62.8% full and Punta Cana's 80.6%. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2023), Jan 2024)
• In 2024 Santo Domingo hotels were 58.2% full and Punta Cana's 81.9%. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2024), Jan 2025)
• In January to September 2026 Punta Cana and Bávaro hotels averaged 82.9% and reached 93.5% in February. Santo Domingo averaged 55.3%. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2026), Oct 2026)
• Samaná hotels averaged 72.0% in January to September 2026, against 57.4% in the same months of 2025. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2026), Oct 2026)
• Miches, a new zone in the 2026 figures, averaged 59.9% from May to September. (BCRD (hotel occupancy 2026), Oct 2026)

Area figures are ASONAHORES occupancy for reporting hotels, published by BCRD, as simple averages of monthly rates. Puerto Plata includes Playa Dorada, Costa Dorada and Cofresí. The nine-month comparison for Samaná uses the same months of 2025 and is our calculation. Miches has data only from May 2026, so it is a new series, not a trend. 2026 figures are provisional.

How many cruise passengers visit the Dominican Republic?

About two and a half times as many as in 2019. Two piers at Puerto Plata take four in five cruise passengers, and Taíno Bay overtook Amber Cove in 2025. Cabo Rojo in Pedernales received its first passengers in 2024.

View data table

Cruise and sea passenger arrivals at Dominican ports, 2015 to 2025, in millions.

Period	Value
2015	0.53m
2016	0.80m
2017	1.11m
2018	0.98m
2019	1.10m
2020	0.34m
2021	0.33m
2022	1.33m
2023	2.26m
2024	2.63m
2025	2.77m

• Puerto Plata's two cruise piers received 2,193,340 passengers in 2025, 79.1% of the total. (BCRD (cruise arrivals), Feb 2026)
• Taíno Bay received 1,117,162 cruise passengers on 315 calls in 2025 and Amber Cove 1,076,178 on 247 calls. La Romana had 275,191, Cabo Rojo 157,373, Samaná 59,988 and Sans Souci in Santo Domingo 29,983. (BCRD (cruise arrivals), Feb 2026)
• Taíno Bay received 20,985 passengers in its opening year, 2021, and 982,418 in 2024. Amber Cove opened in 2015 with 58,912 and peaked at 1,203,641 in 2024. Cabo Rojo had 9,590 in its first year, 2024. (BCRD (cruise arrivals), Feb 2026)
• Cruise arrivals were 1,103,898 in 2019, 342,872 in 2020 and 333,134 in 2021, then rose to 1,325,442 in 2022, 2,258,941 in 2023 and 2,626,529 in 2024. (BCRD (cruise arrivals), Feb 2026)
• In January to September 2026, Taíno Bay received 850,055 cruise passengers, Amber Cove 781,936, La Romana 199,893, Cabo Rojo 102,475 and Samaná 41,363. (BCRD (cruise arrivals 2026), Oct 2026)
• Cruise passengers spent an average of US$99.13 on shore in 2025, down from US$101.78 in 2024 and US$116.26 in 2022. Souvenirs and gifts took 44.6% of their spending and tours 35.6%. (BCRD (cruise passenger survey), Apr 2026)
• By port, cruise passengers spent US$108.16 at La Romana, US$85.58 at Santo Domingo and US$69.04 at Samaná in 2025. (BCRD (cruise passenger survey), Apr 2026)

Cruise figures are passenger arrivals by sea from the port authority (APD), published by BCRD. A passenger whose ship calls at two Dominican ports is counted twice, and the totals include ferry passengers between Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico (44,193 at Don Diego in 2025). Cruise passengers are a different measure from air arrivals. Spending is from BCRD's cruise passenger survey, which does not show Puerto Plata separately. Shares and the comparison with 2019 are our calculations; 2026 figures are provisional.

When is the Dominican Republic busiest, and when does it rain?

Winter and spring are the high season. December and March bring the most foreign visitors and September the fewest, at the peak of the hurricane season. Rain falls at different times on each coast: the south is wettest in late summer and the north coast in November.

View data table

Non-resident air arrivals by month, 2025, in thousands, foreigners and Dominicans living abroad together.

Period	Value
Jan	760k
Feb	741k
Mar	820k
Apr	749k
May	674k
Jun	770k
Jul	864k
Aug	707k
Sep	490k
Oct	593k
Nov	716k
Dec	977k

• Non-resident air arrivals in 2025 peaked in December (976,734) and July (863,780), when many Dominicans living abroad visit, and were lowest in September (490,273). (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)
• Foreign arrivals alone peaked in December 2025 (756,566) and March (715,788) and were lowest in September (393,203). (BCRD (arrivals), Aug 2026)
• At Punta Cana airport, foreign arrivals peaked at 536,574 in December 2025 and 528,914 in March, and fell to 278,783 in September. (BCRD (tourism statistics 2025), Apr 2026)
• Sea passenger arrivals peaked at 412,290 in December 2025 and were lowest in October, at 92,381. (BCRD (tourism statistics 2025), Apr 2026)
• Puerto Plata hotels were 87.8% full in February 2025 and 38.6% in September, and Sosúa and Cabarete fell to 31.4%. (BCRD (hotel occupancy), Jan 2026)
• Santo Domingo gets 1,482.2 mm of rain a year. August (195.0 mm) and September (191.7 mm) are the wettest months and March (54.1 mm) the driest. (WMO normals (Dominican Republic), 1991-2020)
• Santo Domingo's average daily high ranges from 30.0°C in January to 32.4°C in September, and its annual mean temperature is 27.1°C. (WMO normals (Dominican Republic), 1991-2020)
• Punta Cana is the driest of the four resort-area stations shown here, with 1,158.6 mm of rain a year: 50.4 mm in March and 135.3 mm in September. (WMO normals (Dominican Republic), 1991-2020)
• On the north coast, the La Unión station near Puerto Plata gets 1,663.1 mm a year, most in November (257.6 mm) and January (191.8 mm) and least in June. Its daily high ranges from 28.9°C in January to 33.4°C in August. (WMO normals (Dominican Republic), 1991-2020)
• Samaná is the wettest, with 2,167.2 mm a year at Arroyo Barril, peaking at 272.3 mm in November. February is the driest month there, with 95.2 mm. (WMO normals (Dominican Republic), 1991-2020)
• The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November and peaks on 10 September. An average season has 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. (NOAA National Hurricane Center, 1991-2020)

Climate figures are 1991-2020 averages from the World Meteorological Organization normals submitted by the Dominican Republic, hosted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Temperatures for Punta Cana are not shown, because the published file appears to carry another station's values. Hurricane figures are for the whole Atlantic basin, not landfalls in the Dominican Republic. Sea arrivals include ferry passengers. Occupancy is the ASONAHORES hotel figure.

What are the Dominican Republic's tourism targets?

The tourism industry has set a goal for 2030 that the minister has endorsed, and the ministry projects another record in 2026. Both count air and cruise visitors together. The ministry's projection for 2025 was not reached.

• When the country passed 10 million visitors in a year in December 2023, Frank Rainieri, founder of Grupo Puntacana, set a goal of 15 million visitors by 2030, and the tourism minister took it up. (MITUR (2030 goal), Dec 2023)
• In October 2026 the Ministry of Tourism projected more than 12.4 million visitors for 2026. (MITUR (2026 projection), Oct 2026)
• In July 2026 the ministry had projected 12 million visitors for the year. (MITUR (2026 projection), Jul 2026)
• In May 2025 the ministry said the country was on course for 12 million visitors that year. The year ended below that level. (MITUR (2025 projection), May 2025)
• The ministry aims to pass 1.3 million Canadian visitors in 2026. (MITUR (Canada goal), Oct 2026)

The 15 million goal was set out by a private-sector leader and endorsed by the minister; it is not a target in a published plan. The 2026 figure is a ministry projection, not a statistical forecast. Ministry visitor counts add air arrivals and cruise passengers and differ slightly from BCRD's on cruise passengers. The Canada goal is the ministry's own and its basis is not stated.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from the Dominican Republic's official producers. The Central Bank (BCRD) supplies air arrivals, cruise passengers from the port authority, hotel rooms and occupancy from ASONAHORES, visitor spending surveys, receipts, national accounts and the labour force survey; each BCRD figure is labelled by dataset or report. The Ministry of Tourism supplies its jobs estimate, card spending data, projections and goals. WMO climate normals, hosted by NOAA, and the US National Hurricane Center cover the weather. Each figure links to the document that carries it, with the date. Visitor totals are BCRD's throughout. Air arrival counts moved from paper immigration forms to the electronic entry form in 2021. Air arrivals and cruise passengers, and the three jobs measures, measure different things and are never added or compared. Where we calculated a figure, the note says so. 2026 figures are provisional. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.

• BCRD (arrivals 2019) · Jan 2020
• BCRD (arrivals 2024) · Aug 2026
• BCRD (arrivals 2026) · Oct 2026
• BCRD (arrivals by nationality 2019) · Jan 2020
• BCRD (arrivals by nationality 2026) · Oct 2026
• BCRD (arrivals by nationality) · Aug 2026
• BCRD (arrivals by residence) · Aug 2026
• BCRD (arrivals series) · Oct 2026
• BCRD (arrivals) · Aug 2026
• BCRD (cruise arrivals 2026) · Oct 2026
• BCRD (cruise arrivals) · Feb 2026
• BCRD (diaspora spending survey) · Nov 2026
• BCRD (economic report 2025) · Mar 2026
• BCRD (economic report H1 2026) · Sep 2026
• BCRD (GDP in dollars) · Feb 2026
• BCRD (hotel occupancy 2019) · Jan 2020
• BCRD (hotel occupancy 2023) · Jan 2024
• BCRD (hotel occupancy 2024) · Jan 2025
• BCRD (hotel occupancy 2026) · Oct 2026
• BCRD (hotel occupancy) · Jan 2026
• BCRD (labour force survey) · Sep 2026
• BCRD (national accounts) · Sep 2026
• BCRD (tourism indicators) · Oct 2026
• BCRD (tourism statistics 2025) · Apr 2026
• BCRD (tourism tax revenue) · Feb 2026
• BCRD (tourist flow report) · Oct 2026
• BCRD (visitor profile) · Aug 2026
• BCRD (visitor spending survey) · Nov 2026
• MITUR (2025 projection) · May 2025
• MITUR (2026 projection) · Oct 2026
• MITUR (2026 projection) · Jul 2026
• MITUR (2030 goal) · Dec 2023
• MITUR (Canada goal) · Oct 2026
• MITUR (jobs estimate) · Aug 2026
• MITUR and Visa (card data) · Oct 2026
• NOAA National Hurricane Center · 1991-2020
• WMO normals (Dominican Republic) · 1991-2020
• WMO normals (Dominican Republic) · 1991-2020
• WMO normals (Dominican Republic) · 1991-2020
• WMO normals (Dominican Republic) · 1991-2020