The Traveler's Journal  
Press Releases - The Traveler's Journal

Informative Press Releases for Travel

Press Release information you can use!

 

The following information is provided by the travel supplier or its public relations representative. The Traveler's Journal can accept no responsibility for the accuracy or validity of any material in this section.

Dominican Republic (DR) Media Memo

12-17-2008

  • JetBlue Announces New DR Non-stop from Fort Lauderdale
  • Travel Weekly Names DR the #1 Caribbean Destination
  • National Geographic Documentary on DR Pirate Ship
  • Living Museums for La Romana-Bayahibe
  • DR Named #1 Golf Destination by IAGTO
  • Punta Cana Resort Inaugurates Taino Underwater Park
  • Enhanced Barcelo Bavaro Palace
  • New Project by Bahia Principe in La Romana
  • Travel & Leisure Magazine Award for Casa de Campo
  • Leading Hotels Award for Tortuga Bay

 

JetBlue Announces Non-stop Flight to Santo Domingo from Fort Lauderdale
JetBlue Airways has announced plans to fly non-stop from Santo Domingo to Fort Lauderdale beginning in May 2009. JetBlue plans to operate its Santo Domingo service from Fort Lauderdale with 150-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. JetBlue inaugurated its Santo Domingo-San Juan, Puerto Rico connection on Dec. 3, 2008. That route had such great demand that on Dec. 18, 2008, an additional flight was added. With this recent flight announcement, JetBlue intends to commence daily nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

 

JetBlue is the second-largest U.S. airline serving the Caribbean (based on average daily departures) and this winter will offer more than 62 daily flights from various East Coast gateways to the region's most popular destinations, including Puerto Plata, Santiago and Santo Domingo, DR. For more information, visit www.jetblue.com.

 

Travel Weekly Readers Vote DR the #1 Caribbean Destination

The Dominican Republic has been named the #1 Caribbean destination by Travel Weekly magazine, one of the travel trade industry’s most influential publications. Established in 1958 and written for U.S. travel agents, tour operators, corporate travel executives and travel industry suppliers, Travel Weekly provides its influential readers with news and features on the world’s best hotels, resorts, airlines, cruise lines, car rentals, destinations and tour packages.

The award was presented to Magaly Toribio, Vice Minister of Tourism for the DR at Travel Weekly’s award gala held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Dec. 11, 2008. For more information, visit: www.GoDomincanRepublic.com.

 

 

Eastern DR Site of Captain Kidd Shipwreck & National Geographic Documentary

The National Geographic Channel has created a documentary titled, “Shipwreck, Captain Kidd” on the discovery and study of the Cara Merchant pirate ship, which has been found off Catalina Island in the eastern DR. This is the ship that Captain William Kidd commandeered and then abandoned in 1699 as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name of piracy charges. The ship site will be turned into a living public museum slated to open in December 2009. The documentary tells how researchers confirmed that the shipwreck was the Cara Merchant, after discovering teak wood while chiseling under the cannon. Teak was used by shipbuilders in western India, where the Cara Merchant was built. For more information, visit: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/3984/Overview.

 

 

Living Museums for La Romana-Bayahibe
Indiana University is leading an initiative to turn the Captain Kidd shipwreck site discovered off Catalina Island in the eastern DR and three other underwater preserves into no-take, no-anchor "living museums." The living museums will protect precious corals and other threatened biology in the surrounding reef systems under the supervision and support of the DR's National Office of Underwater Cultural Heritage (ONPCS). The four sites will be known as the La Romana-Bayahibe Regional Preserve Network. USAID has contributed US$200,000 to the museum project. "This ship is very important to Dominican maritime heritage and it merits protection," said Francis Soto, ONPCS Technical Director. After discovering teak wood on the suspect Captain Kidd site, IU archaeological researchers confirmed that this is the Cara Merchant, the ship Captain William Kidd commandeered and then abandoned in 1699 as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name of piracy charges. The Captain Kidd site, which will feature a stack of cannons and anchor parts, is the only pirate ship ever discovered in the Caribbean and one of only three discovered in the Americas. For more information, visit: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/546510/.

 

 

DR Named #1 Golf Destination

The DR was named the “Golf Destination of the Year for the Caribbean and Latin America” by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). The award was presented to Francisco Javier Garcia, the DR Minister of Tourism, at the 2008 International Golf Travel Market’s (IGTM) annual meeting held Nov. 17-20 in Marbella, Spain and the award affirms that the DR has arrived on the international scene as an important new “It” destination for golf.

.

In addition to this award, the DR was recently recognized by Travel & Leisure Golf magazine, a top-tier golf publication with a circulation of more than 650,000, as “The Player’s Paradise,” honoring the Faldo Legacy Course at Roco Ki as one of the top 10 best new golf courses in the world. Golfweek magazine, a top-tier golf publication with a circulation of more than 150,000, has ranked Punta Espada Golf Course their number one course and ranked the Faldo Legacy Course at Roco Ki number 20 in the Top 50 Courses in the Caribbean and Mexico. And finally, the most recent DR golf honors comes from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). The group chose the Nick Faldo course at Roco Ki as the second best in the world, only behind St. Andrews in Scotland. "Roco Ki is every golf course designer's dream come true," says Nick Faldo. He explains that the variety of landscaping along the 18 holes comes to an impressive finale. For more information on DR golf, visit: www.GoDominicanRepublic.com.

 

PuntaCana Resort & Club Inaugurates Taino Underwater Park

The PuntaCana Resort & Club took the first step to create the Underwater Park Igneri / Taino that will be comprised of twelve sculptures of the Punta Cana area when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 15th century. The first two sculptures were deposited 50 feet in depth. One of them is the image of a Taina maid in an offering representing Atabeira or “Mother o the Waters”. The second sculpture is a Domene with pictographs representing the god Huracan (Hurricane). The underwater park is the newest cultural attraction in the Punta Cana area. Thimo Pimentel of the Punta Cana Village Art Gallery masterminded the exhibits. The sculptures are 50 feet deep and are being placed in the Playa Bonita waters off Punta Cana through December. The new park celebrates Punta Cana’s 40th anniversary as a premier tourism destination. Jake Kheel, director of the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation said the new park will also contribute to the enhancement of marine life to nurture fish in the area. For more information, visit: www.puntacana.org/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barcelò Hotels & Resorts Reintroduces Barcelò Bavaro Palace

Barcelò Hotels & Resorts will be reintroducing the Barcelò Bavaro Palace Hotel after completing a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion that includes the addition of 488 new junior guest suites as well as renovated deluxe guest rooms and refurbished public spaces. Most of the rooms and suites provide seaview and balconies with private Jacuzzi, large flat-screen TVs, wireless Internet connections, king-size deluxe beds and spa-inspired bathrooms. The resort is a Premium Barcelò property so guests will be welcomed with the Barcelò signature Club Premium Service including private check-in, gourmet appetizers, extra in-room amenities and other personal touches. For more information visit: www.Barcelo.com.

 

 

Bahia Principe's Newest
DR Pres
[Back to Press Releases Main]