Mark Murphy is all-new with a special episode of the TravelPulse Podcast this week.
In episode 41, the travel expert dives into the mainstream media hype surrounding the Dominican Republic in wake of a string of reports involving mysterious tourist deaths. The TravelPulse founder calls out some questionable news coverage and breaks down the facts of what we really know so far.
"What do all three of these articles have in common? Absolutely nothing we haven't heard for the past week and a half to two weeks. Literally, because there is no new news to report. But that has not stopped the influx of folks now coming to the surface talking about some issue they had when they stayed at a resort there," said Murphy.
"Here's what we do know. We do know that the FBI is on the ground in the Dominican Republic and they have been. They didn't go down there for this. We have heard from former officials that have worked for the CIA and FBI speaking on the record saying 'hey, there's crime in the Dominican Republic but it's a safe destination and I'd be comfortable going there.' These are people who have been located there for their jobs. Keep that in mind."
Later, Murphy provides some much-needed perspective for travelers before picking apart some conspiracy theories.
"The State Department has a Level 2 warning. That means exercise additional caution when traveling to this destination. Every city in the U.S. has areas that would be considered Level 2," he added. "There are plenty of places that I won't go in the Dominican Republic and there are plenty of places that I will go like Punta Cana and Cap Cana where you're hearing about some of these issues. I've stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and had no problem. I've stayed at Sanctuary Cap Cana and had no problem."
"If the State Department believed that these mysterious deaths being reported by the mainstream media presented a threat, don't you think the warning level would be much higher," said Murphy. "Of all the Americans that visited last year, 2.7 million, there were 13 unnatural deaths."
Listen to episode 41 of "TravelPulse: The Intersection of Travel-Where Politics, Finance, and Travel Meet" in its entirety below:
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