However, the tourism industry grew above the overall average of the Dominican economy
SANTO DOMINGO. – Dominican tourism activity maintained year-on-year growth in January 2026, although at a slower pace than that observed in the same month of the previous year, according to official data from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.
According to the Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (IMAE) report, the activity of hotels, bars and restaurants, a variable that measures the direct performance of tourism, registered a year-on-year growth of 4.4% in January 2026.
This performance reflects an improvement compared to January 2025 and confirms the resilience of the tourism sector in an international environment that remains competitive. The year-on-year change shows increased activity in terms of visitor arrivals, service consumption, and production linkages.
This result placed the sector 0.9 percentage points above the overall growth of the economy, which according to the IMAE was 3.5% in that same month.
However, the year-on-year comparison shows a slowdown in tourism compared to the performance of January 2025, when tourism activity had registered an expansion of 5.5%.
In relative terms, the growth in January 2026 is 1.1 percentage points lower than that observed in the same period of the previous year.
Consequently, although tourism continues to be in positive territory and growing above the economic average, it did not reach the dynamism exhibited at the start of 2025.
The performance of hotels, bars and restaurants reflects that the sector continues to expand year-on-year, but at a more moderate pace, and the variation confirms continuity in tourist activity, although with a slower growth rate compared to the previous year.
The figures, based exclusively on official Central Bank reports, thus show a sector that maintains its positive contribution to the economy, but with signs of a slight slowdown at the beginning of 2026 compared to January 2025.
This behavior not only directly impacts hotels and restaurants, but also drives other activities such as transportation, commerce, entertainment, and complementary services, and this multiplier effect positions it as one of the strategic sectors within the national productive system.
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