This remarkable performance, he explained, is due to the arrival of 4,282,207 million travelers in January-July of this year, for an increase of 1,820,577 passengers (74.0%) compared to the same period in 2021, with the historical record for a month standing out in particular with the arrival of 735,064 tourists in July 2022.
SANTO DOMINGO. The Dominican Republic plans to invest approximately US$1 billion in 2022 in expanding and remodeling its tourism infrastructure. Héctor Valdez Albizu, governor of the Central Bank, stated yesterday that 31% of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2021, or about US$960 million, was primarily allocated to this sector last year.
During a meeting with the National Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores), he highlighted that tourism is leading the way as the sector that has generated the greatest contribution to the growth of the economy this year.
He indicated that this sector contributed 1.8 percentage points to the average expansion of 5.5% recorded by the economy in the January-July 2022 period, that is, a third of the growth experienced in the first seven months, with an increase in its real added value of 32.9%.
This remarkable performance, he explained, is due to the arrival of 4,282,207 million travelers in January-July of this year, for an increase of 1,820,577 passengers (74.0%) compared to the same period in 2021, with the historical record for a month standing out in particular with the arrival of 735,064 tourists in July 2022.
It is worth noting that this positive trend was again reflected in the number of non-resident passengers received in August 2022, reaching a remarkable 621,953 tourists, making it the best August on record, according to data announced by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado. This brings the total number of non-resident arrivals in the last eight months of this year to 4.9 million.
Valdez Albizu specified that foreign exchange earnings from tourism, which reached US$5,759.1 million in January-August 2022, along with the entry of US$6,518.8 million in remittances during that period, contribute significantly to maintaining a sustainable balance in the current account of the balance of payments and to maintaining exchange rate stability, an important element to generate certainty in economic agents.
Asonahores executives described the recovery in Dominican Republic tourism as "surprising," attributing it "largely to the work done by the Government, and more specifically to the strategy developed in all markets by the Ministry of Tourism, headed by David Collado.".
They also highlighted the importance of the monetary measures implemented during the pandemic to provide support to the private sector and households through the financial system.
Representatives of the sector stated that foreign investors, especially hoteliers, praise the treatment received in the Dominican Republic by the Government and the credit facilities granted by the Central Bank through the financial system to sustain the sector during difficult times.
The governor recalled that, through the measures provided by the Monetary Board, US$600 million in financial resources were made available to the tourism sector with an interest rate of up to 8%, which was a great help in maintaining its businesses and preserving jobs.
Valdez Albizu pointed out that the preliminary estimates of the National Continuous Labor Force Survey (ENCFT) for the April-June 2022 quarter showed that the total number of people employed in the economic activity of hotels, bars and restaurants reached 363,334 people, a level higher than the 300,996 net employed of the same period in 2021.
Representing Asonahores were Rafael Blanco, Executive Vice President Andrés Marranzini, and Board Member Javier Tejada. Governor Valdez Albizu was accompanied by Vice Governor Clarissa de la Rocha de Torres; Deputy Manager of Monetary, Exchange Rate, and Financial Policies, Joel Tejeda; Deputy Manager of National Accounts, Ramón González; and Director of National Accounts, Elina Rosario.
