Local spending is keeping the tourism sector afloat.
SANTO DOMINGO, RD – Although the flow of international tourists has shown signs of slowing down in the first half of 2025, domestic consumption has become the true support of the sector during these months, according to the semiannual report of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.
Restaurants, bars, recreational centers, and weekend destinations have maintained high levels of activity thanks to spending by Dominicans themselves. This rebound in domestic tourism is due to a combination of factors: increased formal employment, expansion of consumer credit, and a sustained effort by the private sector and the government to provide accessible and attractive local offerings.
In a context of fewer foreign visitors, it is the national economy that is keeping the tourism industry running.
Fueled by job recovery and increased consumer credit, domestic tourism spending has sustained bars and restaurants, adding a positive note to the Central Bank's sector-specific economic growth report. This local demand has been key to maintaining growth in the food and beverage services sector, even with lower international tourism.
The brake
In the first six months of 2025, growth in the tourism sector was moderate due to lower visitor arrivals and external factors. According to the Central Bank, the hotels, bars, and restaurants (HBR) sector grew by 2.6% year-on-year between January and May, with a clear slowdown in May, when the increase was only 1.4%, slower than expected.
Even so, it remains a key pillar of the economy.
The contrast with the growth of sectors such as commerce (+3.4%) and local manufacturing (+1.6%) highlights that, although tourism continues to expand, it does so with less vigor than in previous years and without leading economic growth as in 2022 or 2023.
The culprits of the day
While still in positive territory, the sector's dynamism has been affected by a combination of external and internal factors, including the decrease in arrivals from the United States and Canada, two of its main source markets. During the first quarter of the year, 2,320,555 non-resident passengers arrived in the country by air, representing a year-on-year decrease of 0.6%.
The Central Bank attributes the decline to adverse weather conditions in the northern hemisphere and to the increase in interest rates in the United States, which has forced families to make adjustments to their spending.
However, cruise tourism is growing, although not enough to offset the decline in air travel. This segment experienced a notable increase in the period covered by the official document: 1,004,143 visitors arrived by cruise ship in the first quarter, which helped sustain the total volume of tourists. However, this type of traveler has a smaller economic impact due to their shorter stays and lower average spending, so it did not compensate for the drop in traditional tourism.
Occupancy and Revenue
The Central Bank report compared average hotel occupancy between January and June 2025 with the same period in 2024, showing a decrease from 84.3% to 83.9%, a drop of 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. Although slight, this change confirms less pressure on hotel infrastructure, which translates into more moderate revenue levels for the sector.
Regarding foreign exchange earnings from tourism, the report showed a modest year-on-year increase of 1.8% in the first quarter, well below the levels the sector had reached post-pandemic. This figure suggests that, although the country continues to receive visitors, their average spending has been lower and their stays possibly shorter, which can be explained by the decrease in air travelers and the increase in cruise ship passengers.
The most recent data from the Central Bank's Tourism Flow Report, which is published quarterly, reported revenues of US$3,250.4 million between January and March 2025, with a year-on-year growth of 1.8%, but the recent document does not offer absolute values, only percentages.
Moderate growth
While the Dominican economy as a whole registered a growth of 2.4% between January and June 2025, the tourism sector is slightly above that average (2.6%), with signs of slowing down in the last months of the semester.
The contrast with sectors such as commerce (+3.4%) and local manufacturing (+1.6%) highlights that, although tourism continues to expand, it does so with less vigor than in previous years, and without leading economic growth as in 2022 or 2023.
The Dominican tourism industry is progressing, but it faces headwinds: lower air traffic, restrained tourist spending, and a high dependence on source markets sensitive to economic cycles. To reverse this trend, the country must invest in new promotional strategies, greater market diversification, and strengthen its domestic value proposition to attract visitors with greater spending power.
The challenge for the second half of the year will be to regain momentum in an uncertain global context, while maintaining the competitiveness and quality that have positioned the country as one of the leading destinations in the Caribbean.
Photo: Julia Volk
