Tourism arrivals continue to soar in the Dominican Republic, according to newly-released data from the country’s Ministry of Tourism. 

In June, the country reported just under 645,000 visitors, the best June in the history of Dominican tourism. 

The total number of 644,861 tourists was 9.8 percent higher than June 2019, before the pandemic. 

The record-setting number was also 9.8 percent higher than the same period in 2018, according to Tourism Minister David Collado. 

So far, 3,547,142 tourists have visited the country in 2022, Collado said. 

Hotel occupancy in the country is over 71 percent, with visitors staying for an average of 10 days in the Dominican Republic. 

The two airports with the most visitors were Punta Cana and Santo Domingo’s Las Americas. 

It’s the latter that has helped buoy a great deal of tourism growth. 

Before the pandemic, the Dominican Republic kicked off a major push to draw tourism to the capital, and it seems that those efforts are now bearing fruit. 

Santo Domingo has been one of the fastest-growing airports in the wider Caribbean, with more and more travelers drawn to the capital, particularly its fascinating Colonial Zone, filled with stunning mid-millennium buildings and a growing art scene. 

Of course, much of the country’s tourism recovery can be attributed to its ultra-liberal testing rules — which is to say that for the vast majority of the pandemic, the Dominican Republic did not require pre-testing for visitors from the US, and still does not.

The only requirement is for visitors to register for an “E-Ticket” on an online portal (you can find it here).

The goal, Collado said, is to exceed 7 million annual visitors this year, which would be a “historic number in the arrival of tourists to the Dominican Republic,” he said. 

The Dominican Republic is by far the most-visited tourism destination in the Caribbean.