By the Caribbean Journal staff

Dominican Republic tourism is up almost 6 percent so far in 2018, according to new data from the Dominican Republic’s Central Bank provided to Caribbean Journal.

The country reported a total of 2.9 million visitors in the first five months of 2018, up 5.9 percent compared to the same period in 2017, according to a statement from the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism.

The country will need to continue — and transcend — that growth rate if it is to achieve its stated goal of 10 million annual visitors by the year 2023.

Last year, the Dominican Republic grew by 3.9 percent, with a total of 6.187 million stayover tourist arrivals in the calendar year 2017.