Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana removes liquor dispensers after 9 American tourists dead in Dominican Republic

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in the Dominican Republic is removing liquor dispensers from guest room minibars at its resort in Punta Cana the general manager said after media including this publication asked if the hotel was slowly poisoning their guests.

The hotel wanted to make sure their decision to remove the dispensers was made independently and not as a result of the deaths that happened at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at Punta Cana The decision follows a series of American tourist deaths in the Dominican Republic, some of which may have involved liquor.

At least nine American citizens have died during or after stays at Dominican Republic resorts over the past year, according to information from the  U.S. State Department, family members and the resorts involved.

The FBI is assisting with the toxicology tests of three of the nine Americans who have died in the Dominican Republic in the past year, he said.

Tourism last year represented more than 17% of the country’s economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

The Dominican Republic has it all according to their website. www.godominicanrepublic.com/ has so far ignored to comment or mention the challenges this county’s tourism industry has been facing in regards to the death and illness of so many U.S. visitors.