The Dominican Republic’s hotels, bars and restaurants sector grew 5.9% in the first four months of 2026, according to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.
The central bank said these gains had contributed significantly to the work of the Ministry of Tourism, citing promotional campaigns to encourage diversity in where visitors come from while maintaining the country’s key source markets.
Record march to arrive
Between January and March 2026, the number of non-resident passengers arriving by air through various airports in the country exceeded 2.6 million.
March particularly stood out. It was the first time the Dominican Republic had welcomed more than 900,000 air passengers in a single month.
broader economic situation
Preliminary figures from the Indicator of Monthly Economic Activity (IMAE) for January to April 2026 show that the average cumulative growth rate compared to the same period last year was 4.0%.
In April alone, IMAE recorded a 3.8% year-on-year increase, significantly higher than the 1.7% recorded in April 2025.
BCRD noted that the results come against a backdrop of significant international uncertainty.
Where does growth come from?
According to the central bank, the economic performance in the January-April period was mainly due to a year-on-year increase in real value added in several key sectors, including mining (10.7%), construction (4.6%), free trade zone manufacturing (3.7%), regional manufacturing (3.6%) and agriculture (2.7%).
Overall, the services sector grew by 4.4%, led by education (6.7%), financial services (6.2%), hotels, bars and restaurants (5.9%), health (5.7%), transportation and storage (4.9%), and other market services (4.6%).
