Mark Murphy is back this week on a brand new episode of the TravelPulse Podcast.
With tourist deaths in the Dominican Republic continuing to dominate the news cycle as it pertains to the travel world, the TravelPulse founder dives back into the media hype to find the all-important facts.
"All of these disparate things that are trying to be tied together by sensational media can't possibly be tied together. You can't have killer minibars that are in multiple resorts with multiple owners and are, in many cases, hours apart from each other and think that there's some connection. It makes no sense," said Murphy.
"I was just in the Dominican Republic at Sanctuary Cap Cana. I'm going to La Romana in August and I'm going back to Cap Cana this fall. Why would I do that if I had any concerns?" he asked. "If the FBI and CDC are there and the State Department is involved and they're not telling people to stop coming, then what are you worried about?"
Later, Murphy breaks down the data and shares his best advice for concerned travelers.
"The death rate in the Dominican Republic is not any higher than the rate in the U.S. And this is what I tell people," the travel expert said. "The number of deaths in the Dominican Republic over the last 12 months is actually lower than in previous years."
"The numbers don't add up. There is no conspiracy. Minibars aren't killing people until we hear something different from the FBI and CDC. That'll be the barometer of what's really going on. If you've got a trip planned, I would say 'go,'" he added. "There are 2.7 million reasons (2.7 million Americans visited the DR last year) to go minus these terrible situations that took place, of which it's going to happen year in and year out."
Listen to episode 42 of "TravelPulse: The Intersection of Travel-Where Politics, Finance, and Travel Meet" in its entirety below:
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