Tourist Arrivals to the D.R. Up Nearly 4 Percent in 2017

Although final visitor numbers for 2017 won't be tallied for another month or so, the Dominican Republic appears to be the clear winner once again in the Caribbean and is poised to top its 6.1 million-visitor-mark achieved in 2016.

That number represented a 6.4% jump over 2015 numbers. Through November 2017, air tourist arrivals totaled 5,560,787, up 3.9% or 208,286 more than the same period last year.

Among foreign visitors, 56.3% hailed from North America (the U.S., Canada and Mexico), 25.8% from Europe, 12.8% from South America and the rest from Central America and Asia, according to the Central Bank report.

Countries showing the largest increases included Russia, England, Germany and the Ukraine. More than 95% of the visitors reported coming for recreation; 93.7% said they stayed at a hotel or resort; and 54.1% of all travelers were in the 21-49 age range.

Source: Travel Weekly