It reports that stay-over arrivals in the region increased by an estimated 7% during the 2003 winter season, compared to the same period last year, while cruise ship passengers were up 5%.
CTO secretary-general Jean Holder says, 'The weakened US dollar has made the region's tourist prices more attractive for Europeans and Canadians while making trans-Atlantic travel more expensive for Americans, encouraging more Americans to consider the Caribbean as an alternative.' Another contributory factor was the recent Caribbean cricket tours of Australia and Sri Lanka, which attracted scores of fans from abroad.
The Caribbean recorded arrival increases of about 21% from Canada, 7% from the US, and 6% from Europe in the 2003 winter season.
Tourism in the Dominican Republic was up 18% for the first six months of the year, with nearly 245,000 more arrivals that in the comparable period of 2002.
The central bank estimates that tourism generated earning of US$1.61bn in January-June and that, if current trends continue, the total for the year as a whole will exceed US$3bn.
Average hotel occupancy in January-June was 73.8%, a significant increase on the 64.1% recorded in the same period of 2002 (which was when the impact of the September 2001 attacks on the US was most acutely felt).
These figures put the Dominican Republic in the lead as far as recovery of the Caribbean tourism sector is concerned.
Among the factors contributing to the upturn, the central bank lists the sharp devaluation of the peso and the intense public relations effort carried out by the hoteliers' association and the tour operators.
Punta Cana has remained the principal attraction, with its airport receiving 46.9% of all tourists arriving in the country.
End of preview - This article contains approximately 305 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
