​Tourist arrivals fall for the fourth consecutive month

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - In Brief 20 Oct 2019 by Pavel Isa

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Official figures of the arrival of tourists by air indicate that the bad moment of tourism is being longer than expected. In September, the total number of arrivals fell by 50 thousand (17%) compared to September 2018. It was the fourth consecutive month in which arrivals declined compared to last year. In August the fall was 55 thousand, in July 90 thousand and in June 16 thousand. If the trend observed in the last three months is maintained until the end of the year, the reduction in the total number of arrivals will be 400 thousand, 13% less than in the second half of 2018. In terms of foreign exchange earnings, that It could imply a loss of about 470 million dollars compared to 2018. This estimate do not consider the reduction in earnings from price cuts that hotels have been forced to do to sustain the occupation. Although it is a hard blow for tourism and it seems that the sector will take longer than expected to recover from the negative information about the country circulated in international media, the effect on the economy is limited. Tourism revenues could end up being reduced by 6% in 2019 compared to 2018 or 1.6% of the current income of the Balance of Payments.