Tourist traveling to Dominican Republic brings own alcohol to ‘make sure that I’m safe’
Travel to the Dominican Republic is on the decline after at least 13 known U.S. tourists died mysteriously while vacationing in the Caribbean nation.
Bookings for June are down 74 percent, while other areas like the Bahamas, Aruba and Jamaica are way up, according to ForwardKeys, which analyzes more than 17 million flight bookings a day.
Delta and JetBlue have temporarily changed their policy for passengers who planned to travel to the island, but other airlines that fly to the Dominican have not.
FOX Business spoke to some apprehensive passengers as they were about to board a United Airlines flight headed to Punta Cana.
“I mean yeah but our trip was nonrefundable so – that’s how that goes,” said Celeste Lightner when asked whether she was having second thoughts.
Authorities in the Dominican Republican are investigating whether counterfeit alcohol played a role in the deaths. This may be a reason why one tourist took matters into her own hands.
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“I am concerned and what I’m doing is just taking measures to make sure that I’m safe we brought our own alcohol,” she said.
And when asked why not just heck with the money? Another woman said, “No I can’t – it was like $18 hundred boo -- so, no heck with this money.”