Dominican Republic sees strong rebound in tourism despite COVID

The Dominican Republic is preparing to receive about 5 million visitors this year, consolidating a recovery for the main tourist destination in the Caribbean despite the threat of the omicron variant, said the Vice Minister of Tourism, Jacqueline Mora.

In a telephone interview, Mora said tourism was rebounding strongly from last year’s pandemic lows, with monthly arrivals from September to November breaking records.

Last month, the Caribbean nation received 519,349 visitors, an increase of 197% compared to November 2020 and 12% compared to 2019.

Still, this year’s total arrivals will be 23% lower than the 6.4 million travelers seen in 2019.

Tourism represents 8.4% of the country’s economy, according to the Central Bank, although the Ministry of Tourism says that the true impact of the sector is close to 30%, when considering auxiliary services.

In 2019, tourism represented $ 7.4 billion in revenue for the Dominican Republic, more than any other nation in Central America or the Caribbean.

After the 2020 pandemic resulted in a drop in production, the Central Bank expects the economy to grow 11% in 2021, while the International Monetary Fund expects growth of 9.5% followed by expansions of 5.5% and 5 % in 2022 and 2023.

The country’s bonds maturing in 2032, sold last September amid empty beaches, have recovered to trade at 101.54 cents on the dollar.

Open but vigilant

While much of the region prohibited international travelers during the pandemic, the Dominican Republic kept its borders open and instead focused efforts on vaccine implementation, particularly in the most attractive spots for tourism and among workers in the hospitality industry.

Additionally, until April 2021, the country provided free travel and medical insurance to tourists, protecting visitors from additional accommodation bills if they fell ill.

“The combination of flexibility at the border but a lot of controls at the hotels worked for us,” Mora said. “Tourists really liked that.”

In December, S&P Global highlighted the burgeoning tourism industry as part of the country’s “impressive economic recovery.”

Still, Mora said that new COVID restrictions in places like Canada and Europe to combat the omicron variant could dampen travel in the first months of the year, even as the ministry estimates it will close 2022 with 6.6 million visitors.

“We still don’t know what this new wave of infections will look like,” he said, “but January could be challenging.”