SANTO DOMINGO –Cruise tourism in the Dominican Republic has begun to rebound with the arrival of a greater number of ships. In 2021 alone, 304 ships arrived, representing a significant increase compared to 2020 when 174 vessels entered the country's main tourist ports.
Similar behavior was observed throughout 2022. The Dominican destination was visited by cruise passengers of 119 nationalities, as of October of last year, a behavior that has improved because in 2020 it was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and boarding was not allowed, according to data from the Central Bank.
In October 2022 alone, 107,419 passengers had already been registered visiting Dominican ports by sea, while in December 2021 the arrival of this type of traveler totaled 110,331 cruise passengers for the entire year, according to statistical figures from the Tourism Information System of the Ministry of Tourism (Situr/Mitur).
The cruise season in the Dominican Republic begins between October-December (varies depending on the cruise line's start date) and ends between March-April, according to the website cruceros.com.do.
Ports
In August of last year 2022, the Dominican Port Authority (Apordom) reported that during the first half of 2022 a total of 562,496 passengers arrived in the Dominican Republic on 395 cruise ships.
In November 2022 alone, Apordom recorded the arrival of more than 196,000 cruise ship passengers to the country, according to today's edition of the newspaper Listín Diario.
“The arrival of cruise ships to the country continues to grow month after month; in November we received 196,268 cruise passengers in our Dominican ports,” the entity reported.
Amber Cove received 102,672 cruise passengers. Meanwhile, Taíno Bay, also in Puerto Plata, welcomed 52,276; while La Romana received 31,380.
Samaná received 2,807, Santo Domingo 2,822, Santo Domingo Ferry 3,768, and Catalina Island 93.
In total, the number of cruise passengers received amounted to 196,268 for November and more than one million between January and November 2022, according to figures from Apordom published on the internet and collected by local media.
First half of 2022
Records from Apordom indicate that a significant number of foreigners entered the country on Dominican shores in October.
It indicates that 80,448 passengers disembarked from their respective vessels onto land, “where they were able to enjoy the tourist, cultural and natural attractions that the Dominican Republic offers; therefore, based on statistics that establish that each cruise passenger who sets foot on Dominican soil spends, per capita, approximately 100 dollars, the cruise industry for this month of October meant an injection of around 8,044,800 US dollars into the local economy.”.
The terminals that have received the most vessels are Amber Cove and Taíno Bay, both in Puerto Plata; followed by La Romana, the publication indicates.
Year 2021
Statistical data on the registration of cruise tourists who visited the Dominican Republic generally entered through Amber Cove, Puerta Plata, with the arrival in November 2021, with 49,303 cruise passengers.
The second port with the highest arrivals was Taíno Bay, with 25,505; followed by the port of La Romana, with 10,527 and the port terminal of Santo Domingo, with 3,03.
Cruise ship passengers who arrived at Dominican ports last November came from 119 nationalities.
Source: Listín Diario.
