Above: Punta Cana (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Dominican Republic is off to a strong start in tourism so far in 2014, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The country saw a 5.8 percent increase in tourist arrivals in the first two months of 2014, according to the CTO data, with a total of 895,641 visitors so far this year.

That would put the country on pace for about 5 million tourists in 2014. Last year, the country received 4.69 million tourists.

Last year, the country’s tourism grew by 2.8 percent, according to CTO data.

The Dominican Republic’s government has a stated goal of attracting 10 million annual visitors by the year 2023.

Its total last year was the highest of any country in the Caribbean region. Cuba saw the second-largest number of visitors.