Tourism Rises To Dominican Republic

Tourism to the Dominican Republic for the first half of March increases as the government pours millions into infrastructure improvements

Tourism to the Dominican Republic for the first half of March increased 8.6 percent compared to the first half of March 2007, says Felix Jimenez, the minister of tourism for the Dominican Republic. Numbers for the remainder of March haven't been recorded yet. For January and February combined, the country saw a 9.14 percent increase compared to last year. Jimenez says 3,027 hotels with a total of 63,000 rooms were added in 2007. He also notes that the government has poured $400 million to date in infrastructure improvements and plans to pour another $1 billion before the end of 2012. The investment seems to have paid off; the country took in more than $4 million in tourism alone in 2007. (JP)