Dominican Republic Keeping Visitors Safe

The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism is ensuring that the country’s tourist centres are being kept open under strict protocols to guarantee the safety of visitors.

With countries making progress in the vaccination process and world tourism beginning to reactivate, the Dominican Republic says it’s maintaining a safety leadership position in Latin America that’s recognized by international agencies. Tourism officials are crediting what they’re labelling a responsible recovery strategy implemented in September.

Measures in the plan have ensured that the country’s tourist centers remain safe for visitors, with “a positivity rate close to zero in the random tests applied at the main airports to incoming passengers.”

Among measures in place are the vaccination of all tourism service personnel, compliance with health protocols, the elimination of the requirement to submit PCR tests to enter the country, the application of random tests and the implementation of the Health Assistance Plan that covers COVID-19 for all tourists who go to hotels, as well as the implementation of certified protocols throughout the chain.

Actions in the plan and tourist assistance coverage have been extended until July 30.

Safety measures have been complemented with an aggressive strategy to promote the country.

“Additionally, the country is among the top 5 countries in the region for the advance rate of vaccination, which allows it to continue to be open to tourism,” says the ministry.

Anticipating a possible new worldwide COVID-19 strain, the Dominican government has reinforced measures to reduce the likelihood of an increase in infections, as well as the health of the population.

Since December, tourism in the Dominican Republic has shown indications of a recovery, with May being the best month in terms of arrivals in the last 12 months, which confirms the confidence tourists and tour operators have in the measures adopted by the country.

The tourism sector represents one of the main engines of the Dominican economy. The country has more than 70 hotel chains, agreements with more than 100 airlines and works with the world’s largest tour operators. Dominican airports receive tourists from more than 500 cities worldwide.