ARC Finds Dominican Republic Ticket Sales Down, Refunds Up In First Half 2019

Air Travel Swells to Mexico and Other Caribbean Islands in June       

ARLINGTON, Va. – Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) today released its findings from research on global airline ticketing trends to Mexico and the Caribbean for the first half of 2019. ARC’s analysis revealed that while ticket purchases to the Dominican Republic decreased and refunds for previously purchased tickets increased, the rest of the Caribbean and Mexico saw an overall gain in air travelers.*

U.S. Ticket Purchase and Refund Trends:
Air ticket purchases made in the U.S. from June 1, 2019 through June 23, 2019 for travel to the Dominican Republic decreased by 10% when compared to the same period in 2018

Refunds for air ticket purchases to the Dominican Republic made in the U.S. from January 1, 2019 through June 23, 2019increased 127% when compared to the same period in 2018

Looking only at June 2019 departures to the Dominican Republic, refunds increased 77% when compared to June 2018.

Ticket Activity Outside the U.S.
Air ticket purchases for travel to the Dominican Republic made outside the U.S. from June 1, 2019 through June 23, 2019decreased by 28% when compared to the same period in 2018.

Refunds for air ticket purchases to the Dominican Republic made outside the U.S. from June 1, 2019 through June 23, 2019 increased 8% when compared to the same period in 2018.

The Caribbean and Mexico
Air ticket purchases for travel to the Caribbean (excluding the Dominican Republic) and Mexico made in the U.S. from June 1, 2019 through June 23, 2019  increased 3% when compared to the same period in 2018. Ticket purchases for destinations with the most significant increase included:

• Saint Martin +158%
• Saint Barthélemy +117%
• Saint Vincent +70%
• Saint Lucia +33%
• Bahamas +32%

About ARC:
An industry leader in air travel distribution and intelligence, ARC settled $94.8 billion in ticket transactions in 2018 between airlines and travel agencies, representing more than 295 million passenger trips. ARC provides flexible distribution solutions, innovative technology and access to the world’s most comprehensive air ticket transaction data, helping the global air travel community connect, grow and thrive. For more information, please visit www.arccorp.com.

*Notes:

• Results based on the examination of 35 million roundtrip airline tickets (all classes) purchased globally from January 1, 2019 – June 23, 2019 for travel to Mexico and the Caribbean.
• Dominican Republic roundtrip tickets made up 4,619,002 out of the 35 million global tickets purchased to Mexico and the Caribbean.
• U.S. results are based on purchased roundtrip airline tickets to the Caribbean and Mexico, from 12,053 U.S. retail and corporate travel agency locations, including online travel agencies. Results also include tickets purchased directly from airlines that contribute their data to ARC.
• Ticket purchases outside the U.S. are based on data from airlines that contribute their direct and indirect sales data to ARC.