In an increasingly volatile international geopolitical context, the country recorded three consecutive months of year-on-year growth, strengthening its position as the leading tourist destination in the Caribbean.
SANTO DOMINGO– The Dominican Republic began 2026 with positive figures in visitor arrivals, confirming a growth trend that extended continuously during the last three months of 2025 and the start of the new year.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, who reported that January 2026 ended with an 8% year-on-year growth, despite an adverse context marked by snowstorms and flight cancellations in the United States, the country's main source market.
“We started the month of January, despite all the snowfall and canceled flights in the Dominican Republic’s main market, which is the United States, with an 8% growth compared to January of 2025,” Collado declared during the ceremony to begin the intervention work on El Faro beach, in San Pedro de Macorís.
The data consolidates a sequence of monthly growth that began before the close of the Atlantic hurricane season and continued during November and December 2025, months that had already shown double-digit increases compared to the same periods in 2024, according to statistics from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR).
Visitor arrivals to the Dominican Republic (via air – “stopover” – and cruise ships)
| Month | Air travel | Cruises | Total visitors | Year-on-year change | Fountain |
| November 2024 | ≈ 667,000 | ≈ 213,000 | ≈ 880,000 | — | Central Bank of the Dominican Republic |
| November 2025 | ≈ 716,000 | ≈ 278,000 | ≈ 994,000 | +13% | Central Bank / MITUR |
| December 2024 | ≈ 884,000 | ≈ 335,000 | ≈ 1,219,000 | — | Central Bank of the Dominican Republic |
| December 2025 | ≈ 977,000 | ≈ 412,000 | ≈ 1,389,000 | +14% | Central Bank / MITUR |
| January 2025 | 759,929 | 395,555 | 1,155,484 | — | MITUR |
| January 2026 | nd. | nd. | ≈ 1.25 million | +8% | MITUR (official statement) |
Methodological notes:
– The figures for November and December are from the Central Bank's monthly statistics.
for January 2026 growth rate; the total volume is presented as a conservative estimate until the Central Bank's monthly bulletin is published.
– “nd”: not yet disaggregated at the time of publication.
Not a Temporary Growth:
This recent performance follows a record-breaking 2025, when the Dominican Republic received 11.7 million visitors, the highest number since records began for the sector. “We are coming off the best year in the history of Dominican tourism, surpassing even the country's population and with stronger growth than Mexico,” stated Collado.
The minister emphasized that this performance is not due to an isolated event, but rather to a sustained strategy implemented since the most critical years of the pandemic, recalling that in 2021, when much of the world was under severe restrictions, the country was already experiencing significant growth.
He recalled that in that year the country recorded its best last four months in tourism history, and in 2022 and 2023 it managed to maintain an upward trend, despite the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which significantly reduced the arrival of visitors from those markets.
What role did Hurricane Melissa play?
While not diminishing the promotional efforts of the country and the private sector, the growth observed in November and December 2025 coincided with the impact of Hurricane Melissa on several Caribbean destinations, including Jamaica and Cuba, where flight cancellations, adjustments to tourist itineraries, and temporary closures of hotel infrastructure occurred.
In this context, Dominican authorities announced 800 additional air operations, and the private sector reported a rapid absorption of regional demand, especially in tourist hotspots like Punta Cana and Puerto Plata.
However, there are no official figures that allow us to quantify how many visitors arrived specifically as a result of diversions due to the hurricane.
From an analytical perspective, the data suggests that growth did not begin with Melissa, as 2025 was already showing record figures before October; however, it makes sense that part of the November and December rebound is associated with these regional fluctuations, at a time when the Dominican Republic maintained full air and hotel operations.
The combination of installed capacity, connectivity, and operational stability explains why the country was able to capitalize on an adverse regional context without distorting its structural growth trend.
The start of 2026: resilience in the face of new shocks.
The 8% growth in January 2026 is particularly significant because it occurred despite negative external factors, such as snowstorms in the United States and the cancellation of hundreds of flights at key airports in that country.
For the tourism sector and related activities, such as real estate, hotel, and infrastructure development, the message is clear: demand for the Dominican Republic shows resilience above the regional average, supported by market diversification, sustained promotion, and a perception of the country as a reliable destination.
With three consecutive months of year-on-year growth - November and December 2025, and January 2026 - and that record close last year, the Dominican Republic strengthens its position as the leading tourist destination in the Caribbean, in an increasingly volatile international environment.
The impact of Hurricane Melissa may have contributed marginally to the increase in flows in the short term, but official data confirm that the engine of growth is, above all, structural.
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