The Dominican Republic
Davenport, T.
International Tourism Reports 1: 19-31
1990
DOI: 10.1080/10714839.1997.11722831Document Number: 516414
Over the past 20 years the Dominican Republic has experienced a tourism boom and tourism has become the largest foreign exchange earner in the economy. Visitor arrivals in 1988 were 935 700, an annual increase of 17% over the previous four years, compared with a Caribbean average of 8%. There are, however, problems looming: with the enormous growth that has taken place, the infrastructure has become inadequate and the industry is calling on the government to increase its investment; tourism has become concentrated at the lower end of the market and to date, attempts to attract higher spending tourists have failed; there are also fears that, unless the government can control the country's mounting external debt, foreign investors will be frightened off and the flow of imports the sector requires will be stifled.