Dominican Republic Rejects Level 2 Travel Alert

The Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores) today announced it disagrees with the U.S. Department of State's recent Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution travel advisory.

Issued on June 6, 2023, this State Department travel advisory highlights an 'alleged increase in crime.'

According to Dominican Today reporting on June 10, 2023, there has been no evidence in recent months of any Dominican Republic that would motivate such action by the State Department.

'For our association, this alert comes as a surprise since the Dominican Republic continues to be one of the safest tourist destinations in the entire (Caribbean) region, considering the number of events per 100,000 foreign visitors.'

The Dominican Republic is the second largest and most diverse Caribbean country, located just two hours south of Miami, Florida.

The Dominican Republic reported over 621,000 visitors in May 2023, an 18% increase over May 2019.

CountryReports.org says ...Although influenced by North American values, the Dominican Republic maintains the Spanish tradition of familial solidarity.

Furthermore, the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic has not issued a local security alert regarding civil unrest.

And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not featured any disease outbreaks on the eastern end of Hispaniola.

However, there is a Caribbean region-wide dengue alert.

Note: Article updated on June 12, 2023, to include visitor reference data and link.