DR Resort Areas Report No Damage from Noel

We've just returned from Sint Maarten where the weather was beautiful...but we kept a close eye on the weather as Tropical Storm Noel headed over the Dominican Republic and Haiti before heading north. Heavy rains caused death and damage in the DR but we've just received this report on conditions at the resort areas:

Dominican Republic Tourist Areas Sustained No Damage Due to Tropical Storm Noel

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – According to a recent announcement by the Dominican Republic (DR) Ministry of Tourism, the main tourist areas in the country were not damaged by Tropical Storm Noel. It has been reported that all hotel complexes are functioning normally and no foreign tourists were affected.

The DR Ministry of Tourism states that no damages to hotel complexes have been reported in any of the major tourism areas of Bávaro, Bayahibe, La Romana, Punta Cana, Las Terrenas, Samaná, Cabarete, Sosúa, Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, Juan Dolio, Boca Chica, Constanza or Jarabacoa. “The hotel occupancy in the touristic areas of the country remains at 100 percent, and at 75 percent in the mountainous tourism region,” stated Minister of Tourism Felix Jimenez. “Despite the damages that resulted from Tropical Storm Noel on a national level, all tourism infrastructure development will continue as planned,” said Jimenez. Furthermore, the DR Ministry of Tourism announced that all international flights resumed Monday afternoon, which allowed hotels to continue honoring vacation packages booked for this timeframe.

A meteorology report from The National Direction of Meteorology states that the provinces of La Romana, La Altagracia and Samaná were not confronted by Tropical Storm Noel. The precipitation that this region experienced remained in the normal zone; therefore, these provinces were not considered a part of the flood alert area.