SANTO DOMINGO.- Nonresident passenger arrivals by air in the first four months grew 5.6 percent more than the same period the year before, the Central bank said on its Web site.

It said 1,594,712 tourists came to the country, a jump of 84,371 visitors.

The increase results from the arrival of 90,198 additional nonresident foreigners, or three times the number reached in the first four months the 2007, when it was 29.785 visitors.

According to the Central Bank, there was a growth in April of 2.54 percent compared with the same month last year, which it attributes to the Tourism Ministry’s and the private sector’s advertising.

A total of 1,728,943, passengers arrived to the country by air, a growth of 5.14 percent compared to the same year ago period.