Punta Cana Tourism Statistics: What 2026 Shows So Far, Read From Cap Cana

Punta Cana's tourism numbers for 2026 are still rising, but less steeply than in the spring: 3,990,123 foreign visitors arrived through Punta Cana International Airport from January to August, 8.4% more than a year earlier, while the year-to-date increase has eased every month since March and hotel occupancy in the zone has run below 2025 since June. The figures below come from the Banco Central de la República Dominicana, the Ministry of Tourism, the hotel association Asonahores and the airport's operator, and we read them from Makai Residences, a building of 216 residences in Cap Cana about 15 minutes by car from that airport.

How many visitors has Punta Cana had in 2026 so far?

The most recent complete reading runs from January to August 2026. The Banco Central de la República Dominicana builds its monthly tourism-flow report from the electronic entry form that every traveller completes and that the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR) compiles, and its August edition counts 6,609,946 non-resident air arrivals nationally, 8.6% more than in the same eight months of 2025. Of those, 5,581,034 were foreigners; the rest were Dominicans who live abroad and flew home to visit.

Punta Cana International Airport took 3,990,123 of the foreign arrivals, or 71.5%, and that is the figure that matters most on this coast. It is 308,941 more visitors than from January to August 2025, an increase of 8.4% on the bank's own figures. Across the whole of 2025 the airport's share was 71.9%, so its weight in the national count has barely moved.

The headline you will see in the press is larger. MITUR announced 8,556,415 visitors for the same eight months, up 6.9%, because its total adds 1,946,151 cruise passengers to the air arrivals. A cruise passenger spends the day ashore and sleeps on board, which is why this page works from the air figures. All of these are counts of arrivals rather than of people, the 2026 sheets are marked subject to correction, and the September figures had not been published when this page was written in October 2026.

How busy is the airport 15 minutes from Makai?

Punta Cana International Airport sits about 15 minutes by car from Makai Residences, and on the Banco Central's sheets 4,167,488 passengers landed there from January to August 2026, residents included. The operator counts traffic differently, adding departures to arrivals: the airport reported more than 11 million passengers in 2025, 9.9% more than in 2024, on 35,092 flights, up 15.6%. December 2025 set three weekly records in a row, the last of them 900 flights in a single week.

The airport describes itself as having two runways and 41 boarding gates, and as connecting 81 international airports in 26 countries as of January 2026. Route counts move with the season and differ depending on who is counting, so read that as a snapshot rather than a timetable. Makai's own location notes list direct flights from New York, Miami, Toronto, London and Madrid.

For an owner the practical meaning is access: more than seven in every ten foreign visitors to the country land a short drive from this building. That is not a measure of how many of those passengers would stay at any particular address, and the airport's passenger total should never be read as a count of tourists, because a visitor who flies in and out appears in it twice.

Month by month, is 2026 still running ahead of 2025?

Yes, in every month so far, but by a narrowing margin. Each monthly tourism-flow report states how far Punta Cana's airport is running ahead of the same months of the previous year, and read in sequence they trace the shape of 2026: an increase of 9.6% in January, rising to 12.1% for January to March, then easing month after month to 8.4% for January to August. In absolute terms the cumulative gain stood at 301,578 extra visitors after July and 308,941 after August, so August added little to it. March was the high point, with 603,774 foreign arrivals in the month, more than in any month of 2025.

The hotel figures turned a little later. Occupancy of tourist lodging in the Punta Cana/Bávaro zone, compiled by Asonahores and republished by the Banco Central, was higher than in 2025 in each month from January to May, reaching 93.5% in February, and lower in June, July and August, ending at 70.1% in August against 76.6% a year earlier. Occupancy measures rooms sold against rooms available, so it can fall in a month when arrivals rise; neither table says why it fell, and this page does not guess.

Which countries are the extra visitors coming from?

From almost every direction, but not evenly. The two largest markets are still the United States and Canada, which supplied 44.0% and 15.9% of the country's foreign air arrivals from January to August 2026. Arrivals from Canada rose sharply, to 887,819 against 785,932 in the same months of 2025. The United States reached 2,455,935, of whom 1,681,119 landed at Punta Cana's airport, but its share of the national total was below the 46.5% the bank reported for those months a year earlier, so it grew more slowly than the other markets taken together.

Beyond North America, the Banco Central's report singles out Latin American and European markets. Colombia sent 71,241 more visitors than a year earlier, Argentina 39,850 more, an increase of 12.8%, and Peru 23,000 more, with Brazil and Chile behind them. European arrivals as a whole rose by 67,312, or 10.9%, led by Spain, France and the United Kingdom, a recovery the bank associates with restored air operations and reactivated routes.

For an owner, a broader mix of source markets spreads the destination's demand across more economies and more holiday calendars. Whether it lasts is something these counts cannot tell you: shares move with airline schedules, exchange rates and fashions in travel, and a page that projected them forward would be guessing.

Why do visitors come, and where do they stay?

The same reports profile the travellers. From January to August 2026, 86.4% of foreign visitors gave recreation as the main reason for the trip, exactly the share recorded for those months of 2025, and 79.6% stayed in hotel establishments, against 80.1% reported for those months a year earlier. Over the whole of 2025 the hotel share was lower, at 75.7%. The summaries do not say where everyone else stayed; these are national figures across all airports, and they are not a measure of demand for private residences in either direction.

The Banco Central also explains why so much of the traffic comes through Punta Cana: demand for sun-and-beach holidays in all-inclusive hotels, which it calls characteristic of the area. In its reports on 2025 it added a second reason that is specific to this community. The area, it wrote, has gained weight as a sports-tourism destination, particularly for golf, driven by the quality of the facilities located in Cap Cana. That is the bank's own description rather than a count, and Makai's published location notes put the new Las Iguanas golf course directly behind the community.

What does the calendar mean for an owner who will also use the residence?

Owners at Makai keep personal use of their residence each year, and the rental programme handles bookings in between; the current owner-use terms come from your advisor. The tourism figures help with one practical choice, which is the weeks you keep. In 2025, and so far in 2026, the zone's hotels reported their highest occupancy in February, 92.2% and 93.5%, while the low point of 2025 came in September, at 62.2%, followed by October at 70.0%. Those two months sit inside the Atlantic hurricane season, 1 June to 30 November, and arrivals from Canada, which cluster between November and April, reached their low for 2025 in September. An owner who wants the coast at its liveliest will choose differently from one who wants it at its quietest, and the data show plainly which months are which.

What the figures cannot do is forecast a booking. Hotel occupancy counts hotel and tourist-lodging rooms across the whole zone, arrivals count landings, and none of the series used here counts nights spent in private residences. Makai's projected 7-11% annual return is the developer's proforma at 60% to 85% occupancy, which means projections, not guarantees, and nothing on this page tests or confirms that assumption. For floor plans, owner-use terms or anything else about the 216 residences, the enquiry form on the main page reaches an advisor.

Common questions

Are tourist arrivals to Punta Cana still growing in 2026?

Yes, though more slowly than in the spring. The Banco Central counted 3,990,123 foreign visitors through Punta Cana International Airport from January to August 2026, 8.4% more than in the same months of 2025, after a year-to-date increase that peaked at 12.1% at the end of March. The September figures had not been published by early October 2026.

How many passengers use Punta Cana International Airport?

Its operator reported more than 11 million passengers in 2025, counting arrivals and departures, on 35,092 flights. That is a traffic figure, not a count of tourists: on the Banco Central's sheets, 4,167,488 passengers landed there from January to August 2026, of whom 3,990,123 were foreign visitors. Makai Residences is about 15 minutes away by car.

Which countries are sending more tourists to the Dominican Republic this year?

Canada, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and much of Europe, on the Banco Central's report for January to August 2026: Canada reached 887,819 visitors against 785,932 a year earlier, Colombia added 71,241, Argentina 39,850 and Peru 23,000, and European arrivals rose 10.9%. The United States is still the biggest single market, with 2,455,935 visitors, but its 44.0% share was below the 46.5% reported for the same months of 2025.

Do most visitors to the Dominican Republic stay in hotels?

Yes. From January to August 2026, 79.6% of foreign visitors stayed in hotel establishments, against 80.1% reported for the same months of 2025 and 75.7% across all of 2025, according to the Banco Central. The reports do not say where the rest stayed, so the figures say nothing either way about demand for private residences.

When is Punta Cana quietest, and does it matter to an owner?

September and October, on the hotel association's figures: Punta Cana/Bávaro hotel occupancy was 62.2% and 70.0% in those months of 2025, against 92.2% in February. For an owner at Makai it mostly helps in choosing personal weeks under the owner-use terms; it does not predict how often any residence will be booked.