At least seven Americans have died this year in the Dominican Republic, and questions have been raised about whether travel is safe to the Caribbean vacation destination. But a Dominican Republic official spoke out at a press conference Friday to dispel concerns.
“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,” Garcia said. “There is not an avalanche of deaths.”
Garcia said the confirmed seven deaths of are not out of the ordinary and that the number is lower than in some previous years. Garcia said in both 2011 and 2015 through June, 15 tourists died in the Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic deaths: What we know, and what we don’t
“Unfortunately, people die in situations that they don’t want; these things happen and they will continue to happen in the world,” Garcia said.
He added: “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.”
Garcia also highlighted the fact that the U.S. State Department currently rates the Dominican Republic as a level 2 (“exercise increased caution”) out of 4 on its Travel Advisory alert system, which, he noted, is the same as Spain, France and many other countries.
The State Department rates more than 50 countries at a level 2 for various reasons. The Dominican Republic has held a 2 rating since the Travel Advisory system went into effect in 2018 and has not changed since news reports of the deaths.
The most recent advisory, issued on April 15, noted, “Violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault is a concern throughout the Dominican Republic.” It added, “The wide availability of weapons, the use and trade of illicit drugs, and a weak criminal justice system contribute to the high level of criminality on the broader scale.”
A tourism security plan was introduced in January and will be reevaluated next year, Garcia said. It includes the coordination of 3,000 cameras and 4,000 police officers.
“We continue to work to increase the security of tourists in the Dominican Republic; we continue to work on the hotel’s standards, to better emergency protocols, increase the quality of food and drink and work with a tourist assistance department.”
In the past five years, the Dominican Republic has had more than 30 million visitors, according to Garcia, and in 2018, 3.2 million tourists visited from the U.S.
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