SANTO DOMINGO.- With the arrival of 80,000 cruise passengers to Dominican Republic’s Santo Domingo Port during the 2008-2009 season, the city benefited as more tourists spent money in hotels, stores, bars, restaurants, tour operators and taxis.
But that’s in the past because for the 2009-2010 season more than 150,000 passengers are expected to come aboard the 80 cruise ships which will moor at Santo Domingo Port, more than double the figure for the 2008-2009 season.
In a gathering with tourism sector representatives, Sans Soucí Port executive director Luis Molina stressed his company’s ability to manage the high end cruise ship business. "With the 43 ships that came to Santo Domingo Port under the transit and mother port modality, once again proves its capacity and efficiency to handle world class standards and serve the passengers who came to the oldest city of the Americas."
Among the season’s accomplishments Molina cited the inauguration of a new terminal in San Soucí, and the arrival of two cruise ships simultaneously in five occasions.

As has been mentioned here lately , the tourist part of Santo Domingo is totally dead at present , with many shops for sale in El Conde and many restaurants closed down throughout Zona Colonial so everyone will welcome more tourists.
Of all things done wrong in DR, to this absent dominican, this is positive and something we should be proud of and help promote and exploit.
Not everything should be about LF, apagones, free education and health, as business and opportunity it brings is essential to a healthy economy and nation. The rest should soon follow.
We should all be so happy that these foreigners are dropping by to see our country and spend a little money; perhaps some of them would naturally fall in love with it and come back to invest.