As many as seven Americans have died in the Dominican Republic and travelers are beginning to wonder if the country is safe to visit.
The ministry of tourism is taking steps to reassure those who are concerned about traveling to the country, according to a report in USA Today.
“The Dominican Republic is a safe country,” Francisco Javier Garcia, the minister of tourism in the Dominican Republic, told reporters. “There is no such thing as mysterious deaths in the Dominican Republic. There is not an avalanche of deaths.”
MORE Impacting Travel
Garcia also noted that seven deaths in the country is not unheard of and that it is a lower number than other years, saying that in both 2011 and 2015 through June, 15 tourists died in the Dominican Republic.
“Unfortunately, people die in situations that they don’t want; these things happen and they will continue to happen in the world,” he said. “The worst news is when we are informed that a tourist that has visited the Dominican Republic has died, no matter the cause of death. … We are in mourning with the victim, we are in suffering with the victim, but the Dominican Republic has made a name for itself in tourism.”
Currently, the U.S. State Department shows the Dominican Republic at a level 2 advisory, which is the same as countries such as Spain and France. Its most recent advisory, which was from April 15, 2019, said that travelers should be concerned about violent crime such as armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault.
TravAlliancemedia president and CEO Mark Murphy addressed the issues in the Dominican Republic in the latest TravelPulse Podcast.
“All of these disparate things that are trying to be tied together by sensational media can’t possibly be tied together. You can’t have killer minibars that are in multiple resorts with multiple owners and are, in many cases, hours apart from each other and think that there’s some connection. It makes no sense,” said Murphy.
Murphy points out to those who are nervous that he is still planning to travel to the country.
“I was just in the Dominican Republic at Sanctuary Cap Cana. I’m going to La Romana in August and I’m going back to Cap Cana this fall. Why would I do that if I had any concerns?” he asked. “If the FBI and CDC are there and the State Department is involved and they’re not telling people to stop coming, then what are you worried about?”