Santo Domingo.- Tourism Minister David Collado does not see Puerto Rico as a competitor but as a partner in the development of tourism in the Caribbean. He proposes combining strategies to stimulate multi-destination travel, taking advantage of the proximity between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Collado envisions that European tourists could visit both destinations in just a short flight. However, he notes that high airfares, ranging from $160 to $400 for a round trip between September and October, are a major obstacle.
To address this issue, Dominican airline Sky High Dominicana will resume flights to Puerto Rico in October, after a five-year hiatus, connecting Santo Domingo with Aguadilla and San Juan. The new route will complement existing service from Dominican airline Arajet, which has sought to expand its flights to Puerto Rico but is awaiting approval. Currently, only JetBlue and Frontier Airlines operate flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Collado emphasizes the importance of replicating successful multi-destination strategies, such as Caribbean and Latin American tourists visiting multiple European countries in a single trip. He reports that the Dominican Republic welcomed more than 10 million tourists in 2023, with 232,176 coming from Puerto Rico alone. The number of Puerto Rican tourists increased by 13% from January to July 2024 compared to the previous year, with projections suggesting more than 220,000 Puerto Rican visitors by the end of the year.
