Canadian demand boosts Dominican Republic tourism growth

The Dominican Republic welcomed 7.7 million visitors from January to July 2026, putting the destination on pace for a record year.

Official tourism data shows arrivals were up 7% from the same period in 2025 and 11% from 2024. July alone brought 1.08 million international travellers, including 921,718 air passengers.

Air travel remains the dominant growth engine, with 5.89 million tourists arriving by air in the first seven months. Cruise traffic added 1.81 million passengers, supported by expanded capacity at Taino Bay, Amber Cove, La Romana, and Cabo Rojo.

Punta Cana remains the principal gateway, accounting for 58% of incoming flights in July. However, Santo Domingo handled 24%, highlighting the destination’s expanding business, cultural, and urban travel segments.

Canada is emerging as the key growth market. More than 1.1 million Canadians visited in 2025, according to Tourism Minister David Collado. Canadian traffic has increased 67% over the past decade, and Canada represented 7% of July 2026 arrivals, behind only the US at 48%.

The shift toward year-round, diversified tourism creates opportunities as passenger volumes rise across leisure, business, cruise, and adventure segments. Expanding gateways and infrastructure also point to a broader geographic spread of risk beyond the traditional Punta Cana resort market.

A fatal resort fire in the popular Caribbean destination recently triggered a large-scale tourist evacuation.