Yuku free message boards

Although the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday may have killed as many as 50,000 people there, according to the Red Cross, travel and tourism remain completely operational in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism announced yesterday.

The Dominican Republic - which occupies the eastern half of the same Caribbean island as Haiti - reportedly experienced no damage from Tuesday's earthquake. As a result, the island nation's transportation systems, communication systems, tourism businesses and medical facilities are fully up and running.

According to tourism officials - which said, "at this time, no flights or group tours to the Dominican Republic have been cancelled" - that includes all of the Dominican Republic's eight international airports, all of its cruise terminals and all of its beaches, hotels and resorts.

"The Dominican Republic is making available its medical facilities for earthquake victims and is providing international relief organizations access to Haiti through the airport and seaports," the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement. "Our transporation systems, communications systems, hotels, resorts, beaches and natural environment suffered no damage here. We are grateful and with deep concern open our hearts to our neighbors and will continue to do everything we can to help them and reassure global travelers that the Dominican Republic is receiving visitors."