Tourism in the Dominican Republic increased by 9.78 percent in May

The arrival of international tourists to the Dominican Republic grew by 9.78 percent last May compared with the same period of 2007, reported today by the local Ministry of Tourism. The agency said that in May there was an increase of 21.19 percent at the entrance to the country of travelers from Canada, and a 12.86 percent of U.S. travelers.

The information noted that 1,677,391 tourists entered the Caribbean nation in the first five months of the year, for an increase of 7.17 percent compared with same period last year. "The goal of the Ministry of Tourism is growing at four percent this year," revealed the body, which stressed that the Canadian market represents the second most important for the country.

In that sense, announced that 412,119 tourists from Canada have stepped on Dominican soil so far this year, so it is expected that after 2008 the figure reached a record of 620,000 Canadian tourists.

The Dominican Ministry of Tourism yesterday launched a series of meetings with private sector operators in order to face the consequences generated by the international crisis, oil prices and cutbacks in flights of the largest airlines in the world.