The Dominican Republic’s “historic” tourism arrivals continue to grow, according to new numbers from the country’s Ministry of Tourism. 

The Dominican Republic reported 478,794 stayover arrivals in September, a whopping 48 percent increase over the same month in 2019, before the pandemic. 

That also represented an 11 percent jump compared to September 2022. 

“These are historic numbers, which are felt in the economy and, best of all, this growth is unstoppable,” said Dominican Republic Tourism Minister David Collado. 

The country’s burgeoning cruise industry is also seeing strong growth, with 67,196 passengers arriving in September. 

The combined figures total 7.6 million, itself a record for the first nine months of a year in the country. 

Collado said the country is projecting 10 million combined tourists by the end of 2023.