Doesnt look like anything different in a vacation package than you can find anyplace else. Nothing special about this at all. Lip service is all I see. 30% more US tourists? I doubt it.

Great!

if true its 11 flight more so what?
anyway unless things change in the dr most never return anyway.
most places are tourists traps. nothing outside the hotel grounds are their?

Great - charter flights are the way to go.

Load factors are better and this saves the environment as less fuel is burnt.

Las Vegas is in deep trouble - DR can and should benefit.

S,.

Why there is always someone here in this blog that no matter what is being say about the DR is never enough for them, boy I do not want to hang out with such group of people so negative about it all.

bernies ...I totally agree ,,,this is really good news and how can anyone knock this news,,,there now is all types of vacations for all types of people with differing incomes and thank goodness we have these tourists

Bernie, those people are our closest neighbor, they hate us with a passion, and frankly, they benefit from our progress more that us, because they don't have anything where they come from.

It's all good, the good LORD blessed our land with everything: Gold, Silver, ect, ect.

KEEP ON HATING LOSERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a good time every time

E' pa' lante que vamo!!!!....er,...sorry, got a little excited there. ha.

Sports betting is legal there. That should help, among some of the other good things there

Good news if it were true.
However unlike scheduled commercial flights, charter flights are harder to monitor. Any figures from the Tourism Minister's press releases are highly suspect anyway, Spin to cover the fact that the Dominican tourism industry, along with the rest of the economy is in free-fall. The only thing on the increase is crime, corruption and inflation. Typical failed-state smoke-screen!

danny and veronica are from Haiti???

roy,
DR does not need so many. It is out of control. I have been all over DR and I have seen the changes thoughout my life

Think about it for. A second ho wants to go to Mexico no me nor my family and DR can espect more from another travel agencies......

We see you at mangu disco and hard rock cafe klk gime light.....

Winter is coming. ... DR here I come. ... with Scotiabank everywhere where else is there to go for value, food, drinks, weather? DR is awesome ... pile in and get some. ... cuba? A joke, random food, security with ak's lingering in the bushes, forget cuba until castro is dead and spend your dollars in the DR. .. and even after the murderor castro is dead keep piling in to DR!!

All are welcome, its my impression , in the DR!

S.

Which is it?

From today's 7 Dias: http://www.7dias.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=107281



Crisis reduce llegada de turistas a RD










SANTO DOMINGO (R.Dominicana).- El flujo de turistas vía aérea descendió por segunda vez este año al caer 1.43% en agosto en comparación con el mismo mes del 2010, lo que equivale a 4,766 turistas menos.



En términos porcentuales, la caída más brusca se observó en los visitantes dominicanos no residentes que descendieron su llegada en 3.36%, mientras que la de extranjeros se contrajo 1.07%.



Sin embargo, en cifras absolutas, en agosto llegaron 2,996 turistas extranjeros menos que en igual mes del año pasado. En tanto, el arribo de dominicanos no residentes se redujo en 1,770 personas.



En agosto de 2011 llegaron al país 328,344 visitantes no residentes, de los cuales 50,958 fueron dominicanos y 277,386 extranjeros.



En el mismo mes del 2010, la llegada total de no residentes alcanzó 333,310, de l

I'am from Canada...love the dr best vacation place in the world

Canadians or any tourist for that matter which become victims of crime is likely to be one who dropped their guard or simply was careless, like walking around with cash, flashing jewelry, perhaps wondered off during late hours of the night in a seedy area of town to solicit prostitutes.

I have been all over the DR and always took precautions, not once did I ever have a problem. People need to use common sense during times of travel to any unknown foreign place. The crime wave currently spreading in the DR is not unique to our country but rather is a trend, ubiquitous all over the world. One fact remains true within any resort in the DR crime is practically zilch and any visitor can feel safe at all hours of the day and night, that is fact.

Do not let negative comments or publicity discourage or stop you from going and enjoying a trip to the DR. It is well worth it, the best value money can buy. There is no island for the same amount of money that can offer as much.

traveling abroad is sirious buisness. do your homework, and you will pass the test and have a good time.

guillermone,
You are right in most of what you say.
However violent crime is not on the increase in most developed countries - it is reducing. Tourists from these countries who have never previously been to third-world or failed-state countries like the Dominican Republic do not expect to have to keep up their guard when on a relaxing, tropical beach holiday. If you have to stay within the resort walls to be safe, then why go to another country?

I disagee Roy. Although there are few exceptions, even places like Malaysia and singapore for example, considered to be very safe are experiencing the same reverse trend common to most countries around the world. There are some worse then others but in general overall crime is on the upswing world wide. That is fact. Just look it up and do your research. And please don't look at statistics from the last 24 to 48 months. You must look at it starting from a few decade back to the present, in other words study it by 10 year increments and you will see the difference. After you do that, then we can talk. ..

heres a new marketing tip , you get a free mofongo with pork when you purchased your airline tickets with apple vacations.

guillermone,
Murder rates per 100,000 population:
Dominican Republic in 2000 = 13.0
Dominican Republic in 2009 = 22.0
Australia in 2000 = 1.8
Australia in 2009 = 1.3
Dominican Republic is a dangerous place and getting worse. Australia is a safe place and getting even safer.
I rest my case!

RoyStone said:

"Tourists from these countries who have never previously been to third-world or failed-state countries like the Dominican Republic do not expect to have to keep up their guard"

Really? Have you ever been to St Loius, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, NJ, Brooklyn, even Manhattan? a wrong turn unto the wrong neighborhood, even for locals could be deadly... oh, and if you are a car with license plate that is not from that state, you stick out like a sore thumb.

I don't think you know much outside your "perfect" Ausitralia and the culture shock you got in DR.

@RoyStone,

Your rate numbers are deceitful.

Yes, DR had a rate of 13 in 2000, but it peaked at 25 in 2004 and has been going down ever since. So despite the recent crimewaves, murders rates are down in DR from 2004 and on.

You say developed countries are improving? maybe overall, but not on some of the cities I mentioned. Many U.S. cities have murder rates in the 40+ and continue to get worse, and that's with populations that are between 500k to 3MM, while the rate in the DR is for the 10MM+

When you compare Australia to DR you really show your ignorance to how the world really is well as the stereotypical superiroty complex many Aussies have. The only other country with which you could really compare Australia is with Canada (not even the US), developed countries with large land mass, with similar populations.

Again Roy you seem to take my post out of context, you either do it by ommission or purposely by commission. I will give you the benefit of the doubt

I will repeat, I said the present world wide "trend" is toward a general upswing in crime and that the DR is no exception. And yes, Australis is overall safe, it is one of a few exceptions

However, I told you to look at statistics not from a short period, like over the course of a few years, but rather a period of decades and you will get a better more realistic picture. But although it remains safe, over time even Australia has also experienced increases. One interesting point, although it has low crime, it happens to be one of those countries where 31% to 41% of offenses committed go unreported and because of that any decreases shown are not considered statistically significant.

Data from Australian Bureau of Statistic shows during 2009/10 year police took action against 375,259 people up 4.8% from 2008/09.

Neverthless Roy, I noticed that anything negative which relates to the DR you seem to pigeon hole the country and compare it as if it were a worse case scenario when in fact it is not. I do not deny there is a problem, but the vast majority of crime victims are not foreigners who keep their noses clean, but rather native Dominicans who mostly reside in very difficult areas of town or who are involved in the drug trade. The vast majority of the crime increases you see in the DR is concentrated and limited specifically to those areas.

guillermone, so
"Data from Australian Bureau of Statistic shows during 2009/10 year police took action against 375,259 people up 4.8% from 2008/09."
- increased police action is not a measure of the crime rate - it is a measure of police action. Maybe the Dominican Republic could learn something from this? An average of 5.5 murders per day in the Dominican Republic. What is the conviction rate? SFA? Murder is a serious crime, regardless of whether the victims are foreign tourists or local drug-addicts. The fact remains that sometimes tourist ARE the victims of violent robberies, and this has a detrimental effect on tourism. Also police in Australia have rightly stepped up their intervention in domestic violence incidents - an intervention sadly lacking in the Dominican Republic. Ask any Dominican woman.

While what you state may be true, it is not however quite the rosy picture you paint of Australia, when in fact, 31% to 41% of offenses committed go unreported and because of that any decreases in crime rates which you claim is not "considered statistically significant."

This simply indicates that police activity do not reflect a complete and totally accurate picture of reality.

Tourist arrivals up slightly

There were 3.77% more foreign tourist air arrivals to the Dominican Republic in the first eight months of the year, or 95,999 more than last year's 2,641,386 tourists by August.
DR1

guillermone,
1) If an offense is not reported, how do you know it has been committed?
2) If tourists arrivals have increased slightly, this means nothing if they are staying a shorter time or spending less. The industry could still be shrinking.

If at least 31% of the crimes committed goes unreported how do you know it has been committed?

That is a very good and valid question which I do not know or have the answer. However, I got that information from the Australian Bureau of Statistic. You better write and ask them. Nevertheless, I would assume an independent research was done to determine and come to this conclusive fact.

guillermone,
Your assumption is reasonable but incorrect. When the statistical facts do not support the claims of pressure groups, like the Feminazzi, they promote myths in an attempt to undermine the validity of the figures. They prefer biased anecdotal evidence to reality, and often distort or misrepresent the figures.
Go to http://www.oneinthree.com.au/misinformation/ to see the evidence.

Roy-I see what you mean but it is irrelevent to the point I want to emphasize. And I will repeat it again, that although Australia is still a relatively safe country, there has been an upward trend towards an overall increase in crime when closely examined closely and measured over a period of decades, in spite of recent figures to indicate otherwise. That trend is common all over the world and most countries where there is an absence of a military dictatorships or high percentage per capita of military personnel.

guillermone,
I am not sure if any reliable conclusions can be drawn from statistics over a number of decades, given changes in methodologies and the agendas of those collecting or interpreting the data. Also the definition of crime itself changes with changing values. For example homosexuality is no-longer a crime is most countries, but racial vilification or smoking in airplanes is.
During a dictatorship I think any statistic become suspect at best. For example, when Truilljo was elected, he received more votes than there were voters registered to vote!
Perhaps a benevolent dictatorship is preferable, however dictators are rarely, if ever, benevolent.

lovingit,
I am not sure what your point is regarding land mass. Having a large land mass makes law enforcement more difficult.
I am not aware of Australians having a superiority complex. Regardless of what the trends are, the Dominican Republic has a much higher crime rate than Australia. This is an unavoidable fact. Denial won't fix it.

Roy-True, however that is why I use the word "trend" and maybe I am using it rather losely, but I am speaking in general terms. Nevertheless, it is no secret, you and I both know that we don't need to look at crime figures and studies to understand there is a overall sense of insecurity in the world, including Australia. Regardless of whether or not it is a result to being a victim of crime or international terrorism, they are both the same and equal as one.

You can just ask your grandparents if alive, whether they feel safer today then in yesteryears and the answer will be obvious. And yes maybe there is no or a lack of burglaries, break-ins and home invasions in Australia, but I bet people are now using a lock and key, whereas in the past it was unheard of. The point is this yes there is low crime rate but people are now taking preventative measures to protect themselves, doing things as simple as locking their doors. Naturally, this is a reaction to the trend I talk about.