The DR Fits 175 Times Inside Brazil; it Now Gets Twice the Tourists

If you live in North America, chances are that you might know very few people who have travelled down to Argentina, Brazil, or Colombia in recent years. South America’s three largest countries have been hit hard by the pandemic, and their unsteady recoveries have meant slow returns for tourism.

Enter the Dominican Republic. The DR has always been an attractive tourist destination but emerged as a new success story from the pandemic. In fact, since travel restrictions were lifted, the small Caribbean country of just under 12M people has welcomed record numbers of tourists, reaching 7M last year.

Yes, you read that right. The DR saw tourist numbers equivalent to roughly 58% of its total population in 2022.

Perhaps even more impressively, following the global dip in 2020, the DR has consistently received up to double the number of overnight visitors than Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia—countries that are between 383% and 1783% larger by population. It's not even close by land mass — the small island fits 175 times inside Brazil.

Part of this is COVID recovery time, and part of it is best explained by geography, of course. The DR is centrally located in prime Caribbean real estate, perfect nearly year-round for a pleasant tropical visit. The country's two largest sources of tourists—the United States and Canada—are far closer to the DR's Playa Bonita and Punta Cana than they are to anywhere in South America.

There's also the component of airfare. The South American airline market remains rather expensive to reach and even between major cities and countries. In contrast, open skies agreements and low-cost airlines are servicing nonstop flights from major North American or Spanish cities direct to Santo Domingo.

Finally, there is a policy element to be seen as well. Like many other countries in the Caribbean, the DR has always needed to prioritize tourism and foreign capital due to not having the natural resource wealth seen in its South American peers. The current administration of President Luis Abinader is no exception, proposing megaprojects for investors and consciously pushing to maximize tourist revenue.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the DR is expected to be Latin America's fastest-growing economy this year. Onwards to Santo Domingo!

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