SANTO DOMINGO – As of Wednesday, Tropical Storm Franklin had not had significant repercussions in the country's main tourist areas. Although several tourist destinations were marked in red on the national map, hotels and other facilities maintained normal operations.
Punta Cana International Airport, which receives more than 50% of the tourists arriving in the country, reported that of the 63 flights scheduled for Wednesday, August 23, only a few were canceled: one from Frontier coming from Miami, and two from Southwest, one from Fort Lauderdale and another from Baltimore.
The Dominican Republic Hotel and Tourism Association (ASONAHORES) confirmed that tourist activities along the Atlantic coast in the north of the island, from Puerto Plata to Samaná, were unaffected yesterday, Wednesday. Only light rain was reported.
For its part, the Sosúa and Cabarete Hotel Association, in the province of Puerto Plata, said that on both Tuesday, August 22, and Wednesday, August 23, hotel activities and the enjoyment of the beaches were not altered by the passage of Tropical Storm Franklin.
The report from this entity was issued at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, at a time when the atmospheric phenomenon had not yet completely moved away from Dominican territory.
Along the eastern coast as far as La Romana, it was also reported that the storm's passage had not caused significant disruptions to hotels in La Romana, San Pedro de Macorís, or Juan Dolio.
A similar report was received from Samaná, one of the important tourist provinces that was placed on red alert by the authorities, as well as La Romana, La Altagracia, San Pedro de Macorís, Puerto Plata and the entire Atlantic coast.
Punta Cana
In Punta Cana, the main tourist region, light rains were reported during the day, but hotels reported no incidents and guests were only asked not to swim at the beaches to respect the ban imposed by the tourism authorities.
In Punta Cana, said Ernesto Veloz, president of the Eastern Hotels Association, "as of 6:00 p.m. today, no incidents related to the passage of Tropical Storm Franklin have been reported that have affected hotel activities, nor has the frequency of flights to the airport been interrupted.".
