Dominican Republic Tourism Hits a Record, With 7.7 Million Visitors in Seven Months

The Dominican Republic is having another record tourism year.

More than 7.7 million people visited the country during the first seven months of 2026, the highest total ever recorded for the January-to-July period, according to new figures released by the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism.

The country received 7,700,118 visitors from January through July, a 7 percent increase over the same period in 2025 and a 10.4 percent increase compared with 2024.

The gap with pre-pandemic tourism is even wider: visitor volume was 69.6 percent higher than during the first seven months of 2019.

Tourism Minister David Collado presented the latest figures during an Aug. 4 tourism briefing in Santo Domingo, continuing a series of monthly reports documenting the Dominican Republic’s sustained run of record visitor arrivals.

The total includes both overnight tourists arriving by air and cruise passengers, two businesses that have expanded rapidly across the country during the last several years.

Nearly 5.9 Million Tourists Arrived by Air

Air arrivals accounted for most of the Dominican Republic’s tourism traffic from January through July.

The country received 5,885,259 tourists by air during the seven-month period.

Cruise ports added another 1,814,859 passengers, bringing the total to 7,700,118 visitors.

The numbers underscore the size of a tourism industry extending well beyond the resort concentration in Punta Cana. International arrivals are flowing through airports serving Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, La Romana and Samaná, while cruise ships are bringing passengers to ports in several parts of the country.

Punta Cana remains the center of the country’s resort business, with one of the Caribbean’s deepest collections of all-inclusive properties, golf resorts and luxury hotels. Santo Domingo has its own growing visitor base, driven by the Colonial Zone, restaurants, nightlife and a steadily expanding hotel inventory.

Puerto Plata has seen renewed hotel and cruise activity, while Samaná, La Romana and Santiago give the country additional tourism centers with very different visitor profiles.

More Than 1 Million Visitors Came in July

July produced another strong month.

The Dominican Republic welcomed 1,083,448 total visitors during July, up 2.9 percent from July 2025 and 6.4 percent from July 2024.

Compared with July 2019, the increase was 60.6 percent.

The country received 921,718 tourists by air in July, a 6.7 percent increase from the same month in 2025.

Cruise ports received another 161,730 passengers.

The air-arrival increase is especially significant during the Caribbean summer, when the Dominican Republic draws vacationers from the United States as well as visitors from Latin America, Canada and Europe.

The country has developed one of the region’s broadest mixes of source markets, with nonstop flights connecting Dominican airports to major cities across the Americas and Europe.

The United States Accounted for Nearly Half of July Tourists

The United States supplied 48 percent of tourists arriving in July, far ahead of any other individual market.

Canada represented 7 percent.

Argentina and Colombia each contributed 6 percent, followed by Puerto Rico at 5 percent.

Mexico and the United Kingdom each accounted for 3 percent of arrivals, while Spain represented 2 percent.

The July numbers point to the Dominican Republic’s strong position in the American market, particularly for Punta Cana, where nonstop service reaches a long list of U.S. cities.

American travelers also arrive in large numbers through Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, Cibao International Airport in Santiago and Gregorio Luperón International Airport in Puerto Plata.

Latin America is playing a larger role as well.

Colombia has become an increasingly important Caribbean source market, while Argentina represented the same share of Dominican Republic July arrivals as Colombia. Panama remains a major aviation link through connecting service, while Puerto Rico continues to generate significant regional traffic.

Punta Cana Received 58 Percent of the Country’s Flights

No Dominican airport came close to Punta Cana International Airport in July.

The airport received 58 percent of flights arriving in the country during the month, reflecting Punta Cana’s position as the Dominican Republic’s dominant leisure destination.

Punta Cana’s resort corridor includes Bávaro, Cap Cana and Uvero Alto, with hundreds of hotels, villas, restaurants, golf holes and resort amenities spread across the eastern Dominican Republic.

Las Américas International Airport accounted for 24 percent of flights, giving Santo Domingo nearly one quarter of the country’s July aviation traffic.

Cibao International Airport received 13 percent, followed by Gregorio Luperón International Airport in Puerto Plata with 3 percent.

Airports serving La Romana and Samaná each accounted for 1 percent.

The distribution provides a snapshot of how visitors are entering the country. Punta Cana dominates vacation traffic, Santo Domingo receives a large mix of leisure, business and visiting-friends-and-relatives passengers, and Santiago handles substantial Dominican diaspora traffic alongside tourism.

Puerto Plata, La Romana and Samaná serve smaller volumes while connecting visitors directly with some of the country’s most important resort areas.

Half of All July Flights Came From the United States

The aviation numbers closely tracked the country’s visitor origins.

Flights originating in the United States represented 50 percent of all flights arriving in the Dominican Republic during July.

Panama accounted for 7 percent, followed by Colombia and Puerto Rico at 6 percent each.

Canada represented 5 percent.

Peru and Spain each accounted for 3 percent of flights, while Argentina, Mexico and Cuba each represented 2 percent.

The figures illustrate the reach of the Dominican Republic’s airline network.

Travelers from the United States have extensive nonstop choices, particularly to Punta Cana and Santo Domingo. Panama provides connections through Tocumen International Airport for passengers from throughout Latin America, while Bogotá has become another important Caribbean aviation hub.

Madrid remains one of the principal European gateways to the Dominican Republic, with strong historical and tourism links between Spain and the country.

Hotels Reported 76 Percent Occupancy in July

The arrival numbers were accompanied by strong hotel performance.

The country reported 76 percent hotel occupancy in July, according to Collado.

Visitor satisfaction was measured at 4.4 out of five points.

The ministry also reported that 91 percent of visitors surveyed said they would return to the Dominican Republic, while 59 percent said they would recommend the destination.

Those figures come as the country continues adding new resorts and expanding tourism activity across several destinations.

Punta Cana remains the biggest hotel market, with major international hospitality companies continuing to develop projects along the eastern resort corridor.

Santo Domingo has also been adding hotels, particularly in the luxury and lifestyle categories, while the Colonial Zone remains a major draw for visitors seeking restaurants, historic buildings, plazas and nightlife within the capital.

Puerto Plata combines traditional resort tourism with a major cruise business, and the wider north coast includes destinations such as Sosúa and Cabarete.

Samaná offers another side of the country, with small hotels, beaches and nature-driven trips spread across the peninsula.

The Dominican Republic Is Still Extending Its Record Run

Tourism has been one of the Dominican Republic’s biggest economic drivers for years, although the pace of visitor growth since 2019 has pushed the country into a different tier within the wider Caribbean.

Crossing 7.7 million visitors before the end of July puts the destination on course for another year of historically high tourism volume if current trends continue through the second half of 2026.

The figures also show how broad the country’s tourism business has become.

Punta Cana still receives most arriving flights, while Santo Domingo handles nearly one quarter. The United States remains the dominant source market, accompanied by meaningful traffic from Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Caribbean.

Cruise tourism contributed more than 1.8 million visitors through July, providing another major stream of arrivals alongside the nearly 5.9 million air travelers.

July alone brought more than 1 million visitors to the country.

Seven months into 2026, the Dominican Republic has already recorded the largest January-to-July visitor total in its tourism history.

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