Dominica Is Getting a Second Nonstop Flight From New York — Just in Time for Winter
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The Dominican Republic’s tourism sector opened 2026 with solid momentum.
The country welcomed 1,219,606 visitors by air and sea in January, a 5.5 percent increase compared to January 2025, when 1,155,484 visitors arrived, according to data released by the Ministry of Tourism.
Tourism Minister David Collado said the results point to a strong year ahead, noting that January’s total was 14.2 percent higher than 2024 levels and 61 percent above 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.
Air Arrivals Top 800,000 in January
Air travel continued to drive growth.
The Dominican Republic surpassed 800,000 air passengers in a single January for the first time, with 825,847 travelers arriving by air. Of those, 709,886 were foreign visitors and 115,960 were Dominican nationals living abroad.
That represented an 8.7 percent increase compared to January 2025.
North America remained the leading source market, accounting for 59 percent of air arrivals. Travel from the United States grew 4 percent year-over-year, while Canadian arrivals rose 8 percent.
Latin America continued to expand its footprint, now representing 21 percent of total air arrivals. The region delivered 19,333 additional visitors compared to January 2025, a 15 percent increase.
Among individual markets, Colombia posted the strongest growth among the top seven source countries, up 27 percent, followed by Argentina with a 17 percent increase.
Tourism officials said the continued growth in Latin America helped offset softness seen in parts of 2025 from traditional markets such as the United States, Canada and some European countries amid broader economic uncertainty and trade tensions.
Central America and the Caribbean also posted gains, adding 4,973 additional air passengers for a 15 percent increase over January 2025.
European arrivals rose 12 percent year-over-year, with particularly strong performance from Italy, up 23 percent, and France, up 11 percent.
Punta Cana Continues to Lead
Punta Cana International Airport remained the dominant gateway, handling 63 percent of all air arrivals in January, or 523,307 passengers — a 10 percent increase compared to January 2025.
Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo accounted for 18 percent of arrivals with 151,340 passengers, up 7 percent year-over-year.
Cibao International Airport captured 9 percent of arrivals, totaling 76,106 passengers, a 13 percent increase.
Puerto Plata accounted for 6 percent of air arrivals with 49,305 passengers, reflecting a 4 percent decline, while La Romana handled 13,789 passengers, or 2 percent of total arrivals, up 4 percent.
Cruise Arrivals Dip Slightly
Cruise passenger arrivals totaled 393,759 in January, a slight decline of 0.5 percent compared to January 2025, or 1,796 fewer passengers year-over-year.
Taíno Bay led all cruise ports with 147,055 passengers, representing 37 percent of total cruise arrivals. Amber Cove followed with 111,110 passengers, or 28 percent.
La Romana received 62,663 cruise passengers, accounting for 16 percent. Isla Catalina and Cabo Rojo each represented 5 percent of cruise arrivals, with 20,726 and 20,558 passengers, respectively.
Hotel Occupancy Near 82 Percent
Hotel occupancy across the country averaged about 82 percent in January.
Miches posted the highest occupancy rate at 94 percent, continuing to emerge as one of the country’s fastest-growing destinations.
Sosúa-Cabarete followed at 91 percent, with Bayahíbe at 89 percent. Bávaro-Punta Cana and La Romana each recorded 88 percent occupancy, while Juan Dolio-Boca Chica averaged 79 percent.
With air arrivals expanding across multiple regions and hotel occupancy remaining elevated in key resort markets, January’s results reinforce the Dominican Republic’s position as one of the Caribbean’s top-performing tourism destinations heading into 2026.
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