April 16, 2021
The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, reported that the month of March has been the period of greatest growth and rebound in the recovery of tourism in the country since the beginning of the pandemic, with the arrival of 263,867 tourists, for an increase of 3.4 percent compared to the same month of 2020.
He stated that the arrival of people with foreign passports reflects a growth of 56 percent compared to February 2021, and also indicated that flights to the Dominican Republic had an increase of 39 percent in March compared to the previous month.
At a press conference, the Minister of Tourism, accompanied by the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (ASONAHORES), Rafael Blanco Tejera and the Technical Vice Minister of MITUR, Jacqueline Mora, predicted that April could exceed the numbers reached in March.
Collado, when announcing the results for the month of March, indicated that in the last week of that month, reservations and flights to the Dominican Republic were matching the flights that arrived before the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic in the country.
“We are very happy with the work that has been carried out together with Asonahores, the Government and the institutions that have positioned the Dominican Republic in the first five countries in reservations and searches on social networks, the Internet and especially on Expedia,” said the official.
At the press conference held at the Ambassador hotel to Royal Hideaway Santo Domingo, the weekly follow-up report on passenger arrivals by air was presented from March 29 to April 4, 2021 where the arrival of foreigners oscillated between 72 percent and 79 percent as of Saturday, April 3 during the holiday period.
In this report, the United States is the issuing country with the highest number of travelers, registering 53,801 for 72.6 percent.
Vice Minister Mora, detailed the positive numbers on the increase in flights and airlines, international airports, and hotel availability that in the month of March was characterized by showing an upward trend in the opening rate of hotels and the occupancy of hotels. the rooms, reaching 70.6 percent with a rebound in the last week and beginning of Easter.
In all this referred month, in a general sense, five of the eight most frequented areas exhibited availability rates higher than 68 percent.
Meanwhile, the president of Asonahores, Blanco Tejera recognized the outstanding work of the hotel managers at Easter by promoting an incident-free vacation during the holiday, and reaffirming the commitment of the private tourism sector to the Government and the Ministry of Tourism for the recovery of the sector.
This press conference headed by Minister Collado was also attended by Andrés Marranzini, Executive Vice President of ASONAHORES; Ramón Roselló, Executive Vice President of Inverhotel; the Vice Minister of Destination Management of MITUR, Patricia Mejía, among other members of the Tourism Cabinet.