The Dominican Republic continues to post strong tourist arrival numbers in 2012. A total of 3.2 million tourists visited the country in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 7.25 percent or 220,526 arrivals. The visitor growth is driven by a 7.3 percent increase in “non-resident foreigners,” according to a tourist flow report from the country’s Central Bank cited on the Dominican Today website. The increase was also attributed to “joint efforts by the Tourism Ministry and the private sector” including “promotions and agreements with tour operators, travel agencies, airlines and participation in major international tourism fairs.”

Earlier this year, Francisco Javier Garcia, the country’s minister of tourism, announced an all-time high in visitor growth between January and March of 2012, with 1.7 million tourists, a 9 percent increase compared with the same period in 2011. Tourist arrivals from the U.S. grew by 14 percent over the same period in 2012, said Garcia.