TORONTO — Canadian visitation to the Dominican Republic is up 13%, “and we’re going to keep growing the rest of the year,” says Jacqueline Mora, Deputy Technical Minister at the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic (MITUR).

Travelweek connected with Mora at the Dominican Republic 2026 Trade Show. Held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the 2026 Trade Show welcomed more than 1,200 tourism professionals from across Canada, the U.S. and Latin America, all eager to hear the latest from the D.R.

“The 2026 Trade Show demonstrates that the Dominican Republic not only leads in visitor arrivals, but also in its ability to generate real business opportunities and sustainable development across the entire tourism value chain,” said David Collado, Minister of Tourism of the Dominican Republic, on April 7.

MITUR has two offices in Canada, in Toronto and Montreal, promoting tourism to the D.R.

“Canada is a very important market for 2026-2027. Last year was good, but we think it’s going to be an even better one this year,” Mora told Travelweek at the show.

Altos De Chavón

MORE AIRPORT CAPACITY

More visitors from Canada (and many other inbound markets) means more need for airport capacity, with Punta Cana’s recently expanded Terminal B at PUJ as the latest example.

Other airport capacity initiatives include a new terminal as Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) in Santo Domingo. Another project, at Cibao International Airport (STI) in Santiago, aims to double that airport’s capacity to more than 4 million passengers annually, thanks to a US$300 million expansion.

Mora hinted that more capacity could be on the way from Canada, with meetings with major Canadian airlines on the schedule for MITUR at the D.R.’s annual travel industry event, Dominican Annual Tourism Exchange (DATE), coming up April 22 – 24 at Barcelo Bavaro Convention Center in Punta Cana.

THE HEART OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Developing tourism in the D.R.’s “heart”, inland and away from the coastline, is a big part of MITUR’s strategy to diversify the D.R.’s tourism product, Mora told Travelweek.

Sun-starved Canadians would be hard-pressed to stay away from the D.R.’s famously beautiful beaches. But for visitors who are eager to explore other parts of the destination, or just looking for a different sun holiday experience, a few nights in the heart of the D.R. might be just the ticket.

“We are adapting our strategy as travellers become more experienced,” said Mora. “Everybody knows the beaches of the Dominican Republic. Everybody knows they are very good. Most travellers don’t know the heart the Dominican Republic, the centre of the Dominican Republic. The public sector is investing in infrastructure in these regions so we can position it to travellers. We want our visitors not to keep to the edge, but to go to the heart of the Dominican Republic.”

Mora added: “Yes, our calling card is our beaches. But one of our big strengths is nature, in the centre, and Canadian travellers love that.”

What’s the challenge? “In the beaches, you have 40 years of investment. We need to develop infrastructure for luxury hotels in the centre,” said Mora.

Mora also noted the increasingly diverse range of traveller segments from Canada. “You have the segment that likes to go to the beach, that likes to come with their family. But you also have young people, not only from Canada, from all over the world, because of Canada’s strategy on immigration in the last 10 or 15 years. We are approaching that segment too.”

Highlights in this “heart” include La Vega, and the high-altitude mountain town of Costanza, and the mountainous town of Jarabacoa, known as ‘The City of Eternal Spring.’

“CANADIANS LOVE MICHES”

Back on the coast, many Canadian vacationers are big fans already of one of the D.R.’s ‘newest’, relatively speaking, sun spots: Miches.

After Club Med Michès opened in 2019 as the brand’s first-ever Exclusive Collection resort in the Americas, more resorts followed, including Viva Miches by Wyndham and Marriott Miches Beach, An All-Inclusive Resort and Zemi Miches All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton.

“Canadian love Miches, they love the upper east, and the north,” said Mora.

SPRING BREAK 2026: 95% OCCUPANCY RATE

The D.R. is working hard to keep its loyal fans coming back while at the same time appealing to rapidly growing markets including luxury and high-end clientele. New luxury hotels also mean new luxury hotel developers.

“The profile of the new investment in hotels in the Dominican Republic is very different today,” said Mora. “We have always had a lot of Spanish investment in all-inclusive, super-big family resorts. But now we also have Hyatt and all of the brands of Hyatt, for example, and those resorts include the newly announced Hyatt Ziva Punta Cana. Also we have W Punta Cana, W’s first all inclusive. And we have Zemi Miches All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton, that opened its doors. There’s also The St. Regis Cap Cana Resort and The Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Punta Cana. The profile for these new rooms, these new hotels, is more high-end, with more culture.”

The outbreak of cartel violence in Puerto Vallarta this past February, following the mass repatriation of Canadian travellers back from Cuba earlier that month, saw many bookings swing to the D.R. This year’s resort occupancy levels for spring break / March Break were very strong, topping 95%, said Mora. “That is increasing the rates at the hotels,” she added.

The destination is also working to ensure that travellers coming to the D.R. are confident in the quality of short-term rental options, with a quality check from MITUR. Right now short-term rentals in the D.R. have a 30% occupancy rate, and MITUR wants to get that to 45-50%. “That will increase our capacity, but they will have to have the quality. We have a lot of investment in high-end hotels, and middle range hotels, but we think that the new traveller wants to have options.”

More investment is coming for the D.R.’s Colonial Zone. “And we’re going to build the new convention centre, in order to attract also some events from Canada. We don’t have events from Canada today, because of the size of your events. We didn’t have a venue to do it. We are making a lot of changes in the last few years.”

“AIRLINES ARE SHIFTING SEATS TO THE D.R.”

Mora is thrilled with visitation levels from Canada – and encourages the trade to push those levels even higher. “Canada is a big market, it’s more than 1 million, but it should be at least 1.5 million visitors to the Dominican Republic. You are big. You have the income, you want to go,” she said. “In the next six years, we’re going to increase our capacity to 2 million. Of these 2 million, at least 20 – 25% should be Canadian travellers. You’re nearby. You know the Dominican Republic. You have a good relationship with us.”

She added that the D.R. is not only increasingly popular these days with Canadian travellers, “but also with Canadian airlines. They are shifting seats to the Dominican Republic.”

Mora’s wish list includes progress in the Caribbean’s long-standing efforts to develop multi-destination holidays. “You can come here and then go to Costa Rica. Because we have the connectivity. Dominican Republic and Guatemala. Dominican Republic and Cuba. Why not? We would love to see that, because even though we are very strong, the Caribbean is stronger.”

The D.R. has a long and fruitful relationship with the Canadian travel trade. Incentives for travel advisors include DO Travel Rewards, offering agents the chance to earn cash back for eligible D.R. bookings. More details can be found here.

Mora hinted that changes could be coming to the DO Travel Rewards program, to offer rewards not just for travel advisors, but their clients too.

Her message for Canadian travel advisors?

“The Dominican Republic is safer than ever, with more quality. And we want travel advisors to come to the Dominican Republic!”

Lead image caption: Jacqueline Mora, Deputy Technical Minister at the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic (MITUR), at the Dominican Republic 2026 Trade Show in Miami, April 7, 2026 (photo credit Michelle Zimmer)