The Dominican Republic’s hospitality sector is firing on all cylinders. Hotels, bars and restaurants grew 5.9% in the first four months of 2026, according to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. The Central Bank credited the Ministry of Tourism’s push — targeted campaigns that held onto core markets while opening doors to new ones.
March Breaks All Records
Air travel surged in Q1 2026, with 2.6 million non-resident passengers landing between January and March.
March made history: for the first time ever, the country welcomed more than 900,000 air arrivals in a single month.
Economy Keeps Momentum
The broader economy is also up. The Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (IMAE) averaged 4.0% growth from January to April 2026 vs the same period last year. April alone jumped 3.8% year-over-year, compared to just 1.7% in April 2025 — solid growth despite global uncertainty, per the BCRD.
What’s Driving It
Key sectors led the charge Jan-April: mining up 10.7%, construction 4.6%, free-trade-zone manufacturing 3.7%, local manufacturing 3.6%, and agriculture 2.7%. Services as a whole climbed 4.4%, with education at 6.7%, financial services 6.2%, hotels/bars/restaurants 5.9%, health 5.7%, transport/storage 4.9%, and other market services 4.6%.
