Santo Domingo.- Intense rains from Hurricane Melissa brought about the Dominican Republic to lose an estimated 25,000 cruise passengers in October, after a number of ships have been pressured to divert or cancel their scheduled routes, based on the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur).

Melissa, which developed on October 21 and dissipated on October 31 as a Class 5 hurricane, contributed to a pointy drop in cruise arrivals. The nation acquired 98,051 cruise guests in October—41% fewer than throughout the identical month in 2024. Tourism Minister David Collado defined that greater than 11 vessels have been unable to dock at Dominican ports resulting from unsafe climate circumstances. A few of these cruises, he added, are anticipated to reschedule visits for November and December.

Regardless of the disruption, Deputy Minister Jacqueline Mora famous that the practically 100,000 cruise passengers who did arrive characterize a rise of 11% in comparison with 2023 and 51% above pre-pandemic ranges—proof of the sector’s continued energy. Between January and October, the Dominican Republic welcomed 2,115,262 cruise passengers, exceeding the earlier yr’s arrivals by 8,524 guests, for a slight progress of 0.4%.