The Dominican Republic holds untapped potential to expand its footprint in the global business tourism landscape, but unlocking that growth depends on advancing a long-awaited dedicated convention center, according to a top international industry leader. Martin Boyle, executive director of the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO), laid out this strategic recommendation during the SDQ MICE 2026 forum, where industry stakeholders gathered to assess the country’s standing in the global meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector.
Boyle told attendees that large international event organizers consistently rank flexible, purpose-built infrastructure among their top priorities when selecting host destinations. Major global industry associations require expansive, adaptable venues that can be reconfigured to suit everything from large plenary sessions to segmented breakout workshops, a need that existing scattered venues in the Dominican Republic are unable to fully meet. A custom-designed convention center, he emphasized, would remove the key barrier to attracting larger, higher-profile international congresses that currently bypass the country for destinations with purpose-built infrastructure.
Outlining key specifications for the proposed facility, Boyle noted that IAPCO recommends building a center sized to accommodate between 3,000 and 4,000 attendees, a capacity that aligns with the majority of mid-to-large scale international conferences seeking Caribbean and Latin American host destinations. He added that strategic site selection is non-negotiable: the center must be located within easy reach of the country’s largest hotel clusters and major transportation arteries to accommodate traveling attendees. Furthermore, Boyle stressed that long-term planning is critical, urging Dominican officials to design the facility to meet evolving industry needs for at least the next 15 years, to avoid costly premature renovations or expansions.
New data presented at the forum from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) illustrates both the Dominican Republic’s recent progress and remaining room for growth in the MICE sector. In 2025, the country hosted 31 international association events, marking a significant 41% increase from the 22 events it hosted in 2024. Despite this upward trajectory, the Dominican Republic still lags behind other major regional tourism destinations. For comparison, Costa Rica hosted 44 international events in 2025, Panama hosted 45, Colombia hosted 158, and regional leader Mexico hosted 191 events, highlighting the gap the new convention center could help close.
While the need for the facility is widely acknowledged by industry and government alike, the project has yet to move past preliminary planning stages. The Dominican government has already taken initial steps to advance the proposal, acquiring a portion of the land occupied by the existing Hotel Santo Domingo in the capital for the convention center project back in 2025. Back in June of that year, Tourism Minister David Collado announced that demolition of the existing structure on the site would get underway roughly three months after the announcement. As of the time of the SDQ MICE 2026 forum, full construction work on the long-awaited facility has not yet commenced. Once completed, industry leaders widely expect the new convention center to become a cornerstone of the country’s strategy to draw larger international events and solidify its status as a top business tourism destination in the Latin American and Caribbean region.