Dominican Republic imposes new safety measures to reassure travelers
Dominican Republic’s tourism ministry announced a series of new measures aimed at easing fears over the spate of mysterious deaths in the past few months.
Acknowledging intense media scrutiny has damaged the tourism industry, the ministry is opening a multilingual tourist emergency center in Punta Cana.
There will be a team of multilingual specialists to help with on the ground problems and put them in touch with any relevant government agency, tourism minister Francisco Javier García said.
Full emergency information including how to call 911 for emergency assistance must now be posted in every guest room and all guests must be made aware of this at the earliest opportunity after checking in.
All hotels must share details of their food handling procedures and their food and beverage suppliers with inspectors, and all hotel pools will be checked to ensure certified lifeguard duty cover is sufficient.
Garcia also said all hotel medical clinics will be audited and the qualifications of medical staff will be checked.
"We have always worked hard to create a safe environment and will continue to be vigilant with comprehensive programs and amplified standards," Garcia said in a statement.
Despite the unease over more than a dozen deaths of Americans in recent months, the US State Department says the number is not unusual and is generally in line with previous years.
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