Santo Domingo.- The arrival of international tourists to Dominican Republic fell 11%, from 234,709 in October last year to 209,616 the same month this year, said the nongovernment organization Quisqueya Foundation, which affirms that the decline should “seriously concern” the Dominican tourism industry.

The economists Frank Valenzuela and Héctor Frias, the organization’s president and executive director, quote the World Tourism Organization’s “International tourism panorama in 2008” report, which notes that international tourists who’ve visited the country constitute nonresident foreigners, plus Dominican residing abroad.

In that regard they note the Dominican Central Bank’s monthly figures show foreign tourist arrivals fell 19,211 in October, from 196,283 in 2007 to 177,072 this year.

As far as Dominicans who reside abroad, their arrivals fell by 5,877, from 38,421 in October, 2007 to 32,544 this year, or 9.8 percent less.

They affirm that while total international tourists arrivals had a positive absolute growth of 42,163 and a 1.3 percent growth rate from January to October, the figure should seriously concern in the sector, when compared with the arrivals for those same periods of 257,437 in 2006, the 207,102 in 2005 and the 427,304 in 2003, when growth rates fell 8.5, 7.3 and 18 percent respectively.

They added that the last edition of the World Tourism Organization’s Barometer, “confirms international tourism’s fast decelerated growth from mid 2008 as a result  of the increase in oil prices at the start of the year,  the deterioration  the economic situation and the loss of confidence by consumers in the last few months that constricted travel budgets.”