The Dominican Republic appears to be emerging from the shackles of the coronavirus pandemic as air ticketing data shows an uptick in travelers, according to ForwardKeys, a leading travel analytics firm.
Data shows that the Dominican Republic’s international tourism, which dipped more than 90 percent at one point in July of 2020 compared to the same time the previous year, has climbed back to 36.3 percent down year-over-year.
Not only is the gain of nearly 55 percent extraordinary, the Dominican Republican has a higher rate of visitors returning than the rest of its Caribbean neighbors, which are also drawing tourists again and have gone from being down 80 percent in July of 2020 down to 48.9 percent.
Obviously, not ideal for any tourist destination but a sign that tourism is slowly creeping back. That’s particularly true for the Dominican after its government put together a comprehensive “Plan for the Responsible Recovery of Tourism.”
“The Dominican Republic is a really good example of how governments should be handling this current Covid-19 crisis,” Olivier Ponti, VP of Insights at ForwardKeys, said in a statement. “The other important point worth mentioning is keeping your borders open. Just like Mexico and other destinations in the Caribbean, intra-regional travel greatly benefitted from travelers keen to escape the U.S.”
The top three cities from where travelers were flying to the Dominican were New York, Miami and Boston. And the data also pointed to an interesting trend that many visitors were single or traveling solo.
“There are a few reasons why the Dominican Republic appeals to single travelers. Firstly, single travelers tend to engage in more activities, so they are attracted by the hiking, kayaking, surfing, wildlife and birdwatching that are in such abundance in the destination,” says David Collado, Minister of Tourism of the Dominican Republic. “As people return to travel, these socially distant activities taking place in our beautiful, big open National Parks and long beaches are particularly appealing. It’s also a very safe and welcoming country, which is always of key consideration for single travelers.”
To that end, the Dominican Republic has released a new commercial to help lure more tourists.