Volume: 13  Number: 4  Page: 353–372

The Tourism Penetration Index in Large Islands: The Case of the Dominican Republic

Art Padilla1 and Jerome L. McElroy2 1Professor, Business Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA and 2Professor, Economics, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame IN 46556, USA

The Tourism Penetration Index (TPI) (McElroy & de Albuquerque, 1998) provides an overall measure of economic, social and environmental impact in small islands. Thus far it has not been used to gauge tourism’s spatial concentration in different regions within a given destination. This study develops a TPI for four regions in the Dominican Republic (DR), and these regional scores are compared with a sample of 42 small islands. Results place Punta Cana in the east among the most penetrated islands/ regions, Puerto Plata/Samana in the north among the intermediate, and La Romana/San Pedro and Santo Domingo in the south among the least developed. Results are also compared with surveys on visitor satisfaction, perceptions of safety, and propensity to return. Planning and research implications are discussed.

Keywords: Tourism Penetration Index, Dominican Republic, islands

© 2005 A. Padilla & J.L. McElroy

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