By the Caribbean Journal staff
The Caribbean’s most popular tourism destination continues to show strong growth, according to the latest numbers from the country’s Central Bank.
The Dominican Republic welcomed 4.4 million visitors through August, a 6.7 percent increase over the same period in 2016.
Of those, about 58.9 percent came from North America, followed by Europe at 24.2 percent and South America at 11.8 percent.
Much of the growth came from the European market, however, with an additional 153,656 European travelers in the period — that represented a 19.7 percent increase over the same period in 2016.
The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism has set a stated goal of reaching 10 million annual stayover visitors by 2023; while it’s a lofty goal, the destination’s continued growth certainly makes it possible.